iv

List of usage notes

Aristocratic titles 560 peerCrimes 177 crimeCurrencies 184 currencyDays of the week 191 dayFinancial indicators 562 per centFlowers 316 flowerHealth practitioners 234 doctorIllegal drugs 243 drugJobs 437 jobLanguages 450 languageMeals 487 mealMonths 506 monthOrganizations 541 organ izati0 nPerforming arts 563 performancePlaying cards 98 cardPoints of the compass 217 directionProfessionals 598 professionalRanks in the armed forces 619 rankReligions 641 religionSeasons 688 seasonSounds 731 soundSubjects of study 763 subjectSwimming strokes 760 strokeWeights and measures 488 measureWorks of art 37 art

List of special pages

Special page on page at entry

Business 91 businessClothes 126-7 clothesColours 133 colourComputers 144 computerFood and cooking 319 foodFruit 332 fruitIllnesses 392 illnessMeetings 490-1 meetingMusic 513 musicSport 739 sport

v

PrefaceIn recent years, teachers and students have become increasinglyaware of the importance of collocation in English language learning.However, no matter how convinced learners are in principle of theimportance of collocation, it is difficult for them to put theseprinciples into practice without the benefit of an up-to-date, corpus-based dictionary of collocations. We at Oxford University Press weredetermined to provide such a dictionary but it has taken us manyyears to produce the dictionary that we feel best meets the needs ofstudents and teachers.

Over the years, a large number of lexicographers and editors havebeen involved in this project and I wish to take this opportunity tothank them all for the contributions they have made. In particular,I wish to thank the three Managing Editors, Sheila Dignen, JonathanCrowther and Diana Lea. The Managing Editors worked on the policyfor this dictionary, striving to ensure that it was in its design as helpfuland accessible to users as possible. In the introduction that follows,Diana Lea explains the principles that were established throughconsultation and experiment to determine which collocates to includeand where they should be listed.

It is our hope that this dictionary will provide you with invaluableassistance in expressing your ideas cogently in idiomatic English. Ifyou wish to explore the dictionary's potential as a learning tool, youwill find the Guide to the Entries (page xii-xiii) and the Study Pages(between pages 446and 447)very helpful.

Moira RuncieJanuary 2002

vi

Advisory BoardOr Keith BrownProfessor Guy CookOr Alan CruseMs Moira Runcie

Professor Gabriele SteinOr Norman WhitneyProfessor Henry Widdowson

Managing EditorsJonathan Crowther Sheila Dignen Diana Lea

EditorsMargaret Deuter [arnes Greenan Joseph Noble [anet Phillips

LexicographersColin HopeGillian LazarFiona Mclntosh

Carole OwenValerie Smith

Project administrationJulie DarbyshireJulia Hiley

Publishing Systems ManagerFrank Keenan

Data capture and typesettingBillCoumbeTim Teasdale

KeyboardersAnna CotgreaveKay PeplerBen Pritchett

DesignPage design: Peter Burgess and Holdsworth Associates, Isle ofWightStudy pages: Sarah NicholsonCover design: Richard Morris, Stonesfield Design

IllustrationsHarry Venning

Thanks are also due to those who helped with administration and keyboarding for shorterperiods during the course of the project:Anne-Marie Amphlett, Elizabeth Aracic, Stephanie Donaghy, Abigail Pringle, Katrina Ransom

vii

IntroductionImagine a student writing an essay on the environment. She knows the themes shewishes to cover and the ideas and arguments to get across. She already has a stock ofuseful vocabulary; especially high-content nouns like environment, pollution, ozone layer.What is missing are the words that can link these high-content vocabulary items togetherinto a coherent whole - a narrative or an argument. Pollution is a problem, but whatneeds to be done about it? Looking up the entry for pollution in the Oxford CollocationsDictionary and skimming down to the verbs section offers the choice of avoid/prevent,combat/control/fight/tackle, cut/Limit/minimize/reduce or monitor. With the back-up helpof a good monolingual learner's dictionary (such as the Oxford Advanced Learner'sDictionary) if need be, the student can choose the most appropriate verb, the one thatexpresses most exactly what she wants to say.

What is collocation?Collocation is the way words combine in a language to produce natural-sounding speechand writing. For example, in English you say strong wind but heavy rain. It would not benormal to say *heavy wind or *strong rain. And whilst all four of these words would berecognized by a learner at pre- intermediate or even elementary level, it takes a greaterdegree of competence with the language to combine them correctly in productive use. Toa native-speaker these combinations are highly predictable; to a learner they areanything but.

Combinations of words in a language can be ranged on a cline from the totally free - seea man/car/book - to the totally fixed and idiomatic - not see the wood for the trees. Thisidiom is not only fixed in form, it also has nothing whatever to do with wood or trees.Between these two extremes, there is a whole range of nouns that take the verb see in a waythat is neither totally predictable nor totally opaque as to meaning. These run from thefairly 'weak' collocation see a film (which elementary students learn as a 'chunk' withoutpausing to reflect that this is not quite the literal meaning of see) through the 'mediumstrength' see a doctor to the 'stronger' collocations of see danger/reason/the point. All thesecombinations, apart from those at the very extremes of the cline, can be called collocation.And it is combinations such as these - particularly in the 'medium-strength' area - thatare vital to communicative competence in English.

Why is collocation important?Collocation runs through the whole of the English language. No piece of natural spokenor written English is totally free of collocation. For the student, choosing the rightcollocation will make his speech and writing sound much more natural, more native-speaker-like, even when basic intelligibility does not seem to be at issue. A student whotalks about "strong rain may make himself understood, but possibly not withoutprovoking a smile or a correction, which mayor may not matter. He will certainly bemarked down for it in an exam.

But, perhaps even more importantly than this, language that is collocationally rich isalso more precise. This is because most single words in the English language - especiallythe more common words - embrace a whole range of meanings, some quite distinct, andsome that shade into each other by degrees. The precise meaning in any context isdetermined by that context: by the words that surround and combine with the core word -by collocation. A student who chooses the best collocation will express himself muchmore clearly and be able to convey not just a general meaning, but something quiteprecise. Compare, for example, the following two sentences:

This is a good book and contains a lot of interesting details.This is a fuscinating book and contains a wealth of historical detail.Both sentences are perfectly 'correct' in terms of grammar and vocabulary; but whichcommunicates more (both about the book under discussion and the person discussing it)?

viii

Why use a Collocations Dictionary?A normal dictionary, whether monolingual or bilingual, splits up meaning into individualwords; it has a lot of power in dissecting the meaning of a text. Its power is more limitedwhen it comes to constructing texts. Good learner's dictionaries give as much help as theycan with usage, with grammar patterns clearly explained, register labels and examplesentences showing words in context. Modern dictionaries are increasingly giving attentionto collocation. But they are still hampered by trying to provide a whole range ofinformation about any word besides its collocations. A grammar provides an analysis ofthe general patterns that exist in a language. But its productive power is limited by thedegree to which it generalizes in order to come up with 'grammatical rules'. Acollocational dictionary doesn't have to generalize to the same extent: it covers the entirelanguage (or a large part of it!) on a word by word, collocation by collocation basis. Itmanages this by not attempting to account for every possible utterance, only for what ismost typical.

By focusing on the specific rather than the general, a collocations dictionary is alsoable to 'pre-digest' a lot of the grammar involved, presenting collocates in their mosttypical form in context, even if this is not the usual dictionary citation form. For exampleat the entry for baby, you will find the collocation be teething, reflecting the fact that thisverb is always used in the progressive tenses. Use the collocations dictionarysystematically and you become much more aware of the extent to which English makesuse of the passive, an aspect of grammar that even advanced students may be reluctant toput to full productive use.

By covering the language systematically from A-Z, a collocations dictionary allowsstudents to build up their own collocational competence on a 'need-to-know' basis, startingfrom the words they already know - or know in part. Occasional, or even regular,collocations exercises in coursebooks cannot fulfil this role, although they do a useful jobof raising the profile of collocation as an essential feature of the language, and teach someuseful collocations in the process.

Which collocations are included in this dictionary?The approach taken to this question was pragmatic, rather than theoreticaL The questionsasked were: is this a typical use of language? Might a student of English want to expressthis idea? Would they look up this entry to find out how? The aim was to give the full rangeof collocation - from the fairly weak (see a film, an enjoyable holiday, extremelycomplicated), through the medium-strength (see a doctor, direct equivalent, highlyintelligent) to the strongest and most restricted (see reason, burning ambition, blindinglyobvious) - for around 9,000 headwords. Totally free combinations are excluded and so, forthe most part, are idioms. Exceptions to this rule are idioms that are only partlyidiomatic: not see the wood for the trees may have nothing to do with wood or trees, butdrive a hard bargain is very much about bargaining even if the expression as a whole canbe considered an idiom.

The first question (Is this a typical use of language?) required that all the collocationsbe drawn from reliable data. The main source used was the 100 million word BritishNational Corpus. From this, compilers of the dictionary were able to check how frequentlyany given combination occurred, in how many (and what kind of) sources, and in whatparticular contexts. The corpus also supplied many of the example sentences, most ofwhich were either taken directly from the authentic texts included in the corpus, or withminor modifications to make them more accessible (but without, of course, altering anycollocations). For fast-changing areas of language, such as computing - particularly rich incollocation - corpus information was supplemented by using the Internet as a resource.

The second question asked (Might a student of English want to express this idea?) led toa focus on current English: language that students not only need to understand but can beexpected to reproduce. It was felt that, for productive use, students were betterconcentrating on one variety of English, and British English was chosen. Considerationwas also given to the kind of texts that students might wish to write. Primary attentionwas given to what might be called 'moderately formal language' - the language of essay

ix

and report writing, and formal letters - treating all subjects - business, science, history,sport, etc. (this list could go on for half a page) at the level of the educated non-specialist.In addition, the dictionary includes some of the most important collocations from somespecialist areas, particularly law and medicine; collocations from popular fiction,particularly useful in treating more personal subjects such as feelings and relationships;informal collocations and those very frequent in spoken language; and a few of the mostfrequent collocations from British journalism. Technical, informal and journalistic usesare labelled as such.

The third question asked (Would a student look up this entry to find this expression?)led to the exclusion of noun collocates from verb and adjective entries. When framing theirideas, people generally start from a noun. You might think of rain and want to know whichadjective best describes rain when a lot falls in a short time. You would be unlikely to startwith the adjective heavy and wonder what you could describe with it (rain, breathing,damage, gunfire?) Similarly, you might be looking for the verb to use when you do what youneed to do in response to a challenge. But you would not choose meet and then choose whatto meet (a challenge, an acquaintance, your death, the expense).

'The full range of collocation', as well as implying collocations of different strengths,also covers all the following types of combination:

adjective + noun: bright! harshlintense/ strong lightquantifier + noun: a beam/ray of lightverb + noun: cast!emit/give/provide/shed lightnoun + verb: light gleams/ glows/shinesnoun + noun: a light sourcepreposition + noun: by the light of the moonnoun + preposition: the light from the windowadverb + verb: choose carefullyverb + verb: befree to chooseverb + preposition: choose between two thingsverb + adjective: make/ keep/ declare sth safeadverb + adjective: perfectly/not entirely/environmentally safeadjective + preposition: safe from. attackplus short phrases including the headword: the speed of light, pick and choose, safe andsound

Most of the collocations in the dictionary can be called 'word collocations', that is, theseare the precise words that combine with each other: small fortune cannot be changed tolittle fortune, even though small and little would seem to be synonymous. There is anotherarea of collocation that might be called 'category collocation', where a word can combinewith any word from a readily definable set. This set may be quite large, but its membersare predictable, because they are all words for nationalities, or measurements of time, forexample. At the entry for walk, one of the groups of collocates is given as 'three-minute,five minutes', etc.': the 'etc.' is to indicate that any figure may be substituted for 'three' or'five' in these expressions.

It also happens that certain sets of words share all or most of their collocations. This isparticularly true of very strictly defined sets such as days of the week, months and pointsof the compass, but it also applies to slightly less rigid, but still limited sets such ascurrencies, weights and measures and meals. In order to show how these collocations areshared by a number of headwords, the dictionary includes 25 usage notes, each treating thecollocations of a particular set. The entries for the individual members of the set include across-reference to the usage note. In cases where all the collocations are shared (months,for example) the cross-reference replaces all other information in the entry. In cases wheresome of the collocations are shared, but others apply only to an individual member of theset (for example, seasons), the individual collocations are given at the entry, and a cross-reference directs the user to the shared collocations in the usage note. A full list of theusage notes and where they may be found is given on page iv. The 9,000 headwords includemost of the commonest words in the language that upper-intermediate students will

x

already know, plus some words that they will start to encounter as they move to a moreadvanced level of English. Some very common words - such as the verbs make and do - donot merit entries of their own. This is because these verbs have no real collocations oftheir own. They themselves are the collocations of lots of nouns, and appear in the entriesfor those nouns. There are also two pages of exercises in the central study sectionaddressing this notorious area of difficulty.

How to use this dictionaryThis dictionary is intended for productive use, most typically for help with writing. Thecollocations in each entry are divided according to part of speech; within each part ofspeech section they are grouped according to meaning or category. (In the example abovefrom pollution, avoid and prevent are roughly synonymous, as are combat, control, fightand tackle, and so on). The groups are arranged in an order that tries to be as intuitive aspossible: in this case from the 'strongest' form of action (avoid/prevent) to the 'mildest'(monitor). Many collocate groups have illustrative examples showing one or more of thecollocations in context.

Because this is a type of dictionary that may be totally new to many students it isrecommended that users familiarize themselves with how the dictionary works by workingthrough some of the exercises in the photocopiable study section in the centre of thedictionary. The first of these aims to show the overall concept of the dictionary by lookingat a single entry (idea) in some detaiL The next few exercises take users systematicallythrough the different sections of the entries for nouns, verbs and adjectives. Two pages ofexercises get students thinking about the common verbs make, do, have, give and take; andthe remaining exercises range across the whole dictionary, testing collocations linked tovarious themes, including politics, jobs and money.

Other information in this dictionaryThe focus of this dictionary is very much on collocation. In order to make the collocationalinformation as comprehensive and accessible as possible, non-collocational informationhas largely been excluded. Definitions of headwords are given only insofar as they arenecessary to distinguish different senses of the same word, when they have differentcollocations and need to be treated separately. These are not full definitions, but rather'sense discriminators', just detailed enough to allow the senses to be distinguished.Register information is given when any pair of words in combination take on a differentregister from the two words separately. Examples would be do drugs (informal) - thoughneither do nor drugs are informal in themselves - or hear a lecture (formal). (Exceptions tothis rule are collocates labelled taboo where the label applies to the single word and to anycombination it occurs in.) Collocations are also labelled if they belong to a particular fieldof language such as law or medical. For a full list of the usage labels used in thisdictionary, see inside the front cover. In addition to these labels, more specific usagerestrictions such as 'in football' or 'used in journalism' are given in brackets.

The most frequent usage label used in the dictionary is figurative. It is a feature ofEnglish that when the meaning of a word is extended and used in a non-literal sense, thecollocations of the literal sense are often carried over: that is, both literal and figurativemeanings of a word may share collocations. The dictionary indicates where this is so: forexample, at way, the collocation lose is given, followed by the examples: She lost her way inthe fog. and (figurative) The project seems to have lost its way. With strong collocations thatare slightly idiomatic, a short explanation of the meaning may be given. For example, atbargain, the phrase drive a hard bargain has the gloss (= force sb to agree to thearrangement that is best for you).

The dictionary also includes ten special pages on different topics such as business,meetings and sport. These pull together collocations from the different topics and can beused as the basis for topic work in class, or for brainstorming vocabulary for an essay, forexample. A full list of special topic pages and where to find them is given on page iv.

xi

It is hoped that this dictionary will be of use not only to students of English of upper-intermediate level and above, but also to teachers (both non-native speaker and native-speaker teachers, looking for ways to present collocations to their students), translators,academics, business people, and all who wish to write fluent and idiomatic English. TheGuide to the Entries (pages xii-xiii) is there as a quick reference, to give help as needed, butthe whole dictionary has been designed to be accessible, and (we hope) enjoyable to use.

xii

Guide to the entries

nouns . ~()l'"tain.. ". . .", / 1 very high hili

Sense numbers and short definitions" • ADJ big, ssive, tall,distinguish between the different sensesVtowering I dramatic,of mountain. fine, m surrounding The sur-

; rounding m e the city difficult to evacuate. Iy' - - • • .dlstant I isolate ote I inland I jagged, rocky,

... - <" rugged, I snow-capped, snow-covered, snowy I holyadjectives that collocate With mountain the holy mountain of theLapp communityor nouns that function like adJectives, • QUANT chain, range a chain/range of mountains

. • VERB + MOUNTAIN ascend, climb, come/go up,scale I come/go down, descend, walk down I walk in

.Weenjoy walking in the mountains. I cross (over)quantifiers words that mean 'an amount/~';' MOUNTAIN + VERB rise, soar, tower The mountainsnumber of something' . here rise to well over 200Om. I fall The mountains full to

o the of the plateau. I surround sth. . mo unded I shake The

tremor ins 'verbs that come before mountain, • MOUNTAIN + NOUN C am, rang , country,

environment, region Between the two as 50milesand verbs that follow mountain of mountain country. I height We crossed the rugged

mountain heights. I pass, path, road, route, track Ilandscape, scenery I crag, face, flank, peak, ridge,

.' Many people come to the resort simply to enjoy the freshk •••• ':mountain air. I pasture I barrier The invading army.' could only penetrate 'the mountain barrier at one point. I.....·..··t village I fastness, 'fortress, stronghold I hut, lodge,

: resort I folk, men, people I climber, climbing, walking,)'walks I guide I rescue, rescue team I bike, biker, bik-'. ing I sickness 1boot I goat, gorilla, hare, sheep

.. / ePREP;;;r gh ~~=i-a ~:£:~~/ iues high u mountains .

• PHRASES' the flank/side/slope of a mountain, the•.k •• ••.•••••• : . foot/bottom/top of a mountain

'y 2 large amount/numberof sth .'common phrases that include mountain;' ADJ. great 1debt I paper I butter, food, etc. They re-

~

. . veaied a solution to reduce Europe's butter mountain...•.•..........• .. • VERB + MOUNTAIN generate I reduce

• PHRASES a mountain of paper/paperwork The en·. ·.-quirygenerated a mountain of paperwork.

adjectives

school was

xiii

other features of the entries

A short use note shows a restriction onthe use of the collocation pitch block.

< -'cc,' ~,~,: > 'c,

Wild, desert, desolate I frozenI un oilt I political (figurative) the man

I, particular collocation wild er ne"'L:~E£:;:~¥S~~takes on a figurative meaning. d • WI ESS + NOUN years (figurative) His toilder»

"j ness years (= when he was out of politics and the publiceye) in the 1990swere spent in NorthAmerica .• PREP. in the-:We were hopelessly lost in the wilderness.

'etc.' shows that words for othernationalities also collocate witharistocracy.

For more help with noun, verb and adjective entries, see study pages 83-9 inthe central section of the dictionary.

Aaabandon verb

1 leave sb/sth• ADV. hastily The village had been hastily abandoned.• PHRASES be found/left abandoned The car uiasfoundabandoned in a nearby town.

2 stop doing/supporting sth• ADV. altogether, completely, entirely, totally The gov-ernment does not propose to abandon the project al-together. I effectively, largely, virtually This principlehas now been effectively abandoned. I simply Traditionalpolicies were simply abandoned. I formally I quickly Iquietly The plans for reform were quietly abandoned. Itemporarily I voluntarily• VERB + ABANDON be forced to Idecide to• PREP. for He abandoned the army for politics. in favourof She abandoned teaching career infauour of sport.

abashed adj.

• VERBS be, look• ADV. a little, slightly I suitably He glanced at Juliet ac-cusingly and she looked suitably abashed.

abbreviation noun

• ADJ. common, standard• ABBREVIATION + VERB stand for The abbreviationPC stands for 'personal computer'.• PREP. - for A/ C is the standard abbreviation for'account'. - ofAd lib is an abbreviation of the Latin phrase'ad libitum'.

abhorrent adj.

• VERBS be I become I find sth• ADV. totally, utterly Ifind the idea totally abhorrent.• PREP. to Such a savage punishment is abhorrent to acivilized society.

ability noun

1 skill/power to do sth• ADJ. exceptional, extraordinary, great, outstanding,remarkable, uncanny I inherent, innate, natural dis-covering the natural abilities of each child I proven Iacademic, acting, artistic, athletic, creative, intellec-tual, linguistic, mathematical, musical, reading, tech-nical I mental, physical• VERB + ABILITY have I demonstrate, show Bothplayers demonstrated their ability to hit the ball hard. Iacquire, develop I lack I lose I seem to have lost my abil-ity to attract clients. I appreciate, recognize Fox's abil-ities were soon recognized.• PHRASES to the best of your ability We will keep youinformed to the best of our ability.

2 speed with which sb learns• ADJ. high The school does nothing for children of highability. I limited, low I average, mixed It is much moredifficult to teach a mixed-ability class.• VERB + ABILITY assess, test• PHRASES a level of ability There was a high level ofability among the schoolleavers. a range of ability/abil-ities I taught a wide range of abilities.

ablaze adj.

• VERBS be I set sth Truck after truck was set ablaze asthefire spread.

• ADV. well By the time firefighters were called the housewas well ablaze.

able adj.

1 able to do sth having the ability to do sth• VERBS be, feel, prove, seem• ADV. perfectly, quite, well He is well able to take care ofhimself. I better, more Onceyou've had some sleep you'llfeel better able to cope. I justI was just able to make out adark figure in the distance. I barely, hardly, only just,scarcely I less

2 clever; doing your job well• VERBS be, seem She seems very able.• ADV. extremely, very I fairly, reasonably

abode noun

• ADJ. humble (humorous) Welcome to my humble abode.• VERB + ABODE take up your (formal or humorous) Ihad been invited to take up my abode at GovernmentHouse.• PHRASES of no fixed abode (law) (= without a per-manent address) An l S-year-old man of nofixed abode ap-peared at Teesside magistrates court yesterday. the right ofabode (law) (= the right to live in a place)

abolish verb

• ADV. altogether, completely, totally Some MPs want toabolish the tax altogether. I Virtually I largely Foreign ex-change controls were largely abolished.• VERB + ABOLISH seek to I decide to, vote to

abortion noun

• ADJ. back-street, illegal I legal I induced, spontan-eous, therapeutic• VERB + ABORTION have When she got pregnant at 16she decided to have an abortion. I carry out, do (infor-mal), perform Some nurses wanted the right to refuse toperform abortions.• ABORTION + NOUN law, legislation the country'sstrict abortion laws I clinic, counselling• PREP. - on He carried out an abortion on afifteen-year-old girl.• PHRASES abortion on demand (= the right to have anabortion if you want one) Women's groups are calling forfree contraception and abortion on demand.

abscess noun

• VERB + ABSCESS develop, get I developed an abscesson my neck. I burst, drain, lance I treat• ABSCESS + VERB burst Once an abscess has burst itshould be bathed with antiseptic liquid.

absence noun

1 fact of not being present• ADJ. lengthy, long, prolonged I brief, temporary Iunauthorized• QUANT. period, spell You will not be paid for the fullperiod of absence.• PREP. during/in sb's - (= while sb is not there) Myfather did all the cooking in my mother's absence. I -frornabsencefrom work• PHRASES conspicuous/notable by your absence (=very obviously absent when you ought to be present)

absent

When it came to clearing up afterwards, Anne was con-spicuous by her absence. leave of absence (= permissionto be absent) He asked for leave of absencefrom the army.

2lack• ADJ. complete, total I virtual I conspicuous, not-able a conspicuous absence of evidence• PREP. in the-of In the absence of stone, most houses inthe area are built of wood.

absent adj.

• VERBS be I remain• ADV. completely, entirely, quite, totally, wholly Ivir-tually I largely I temporarily I conspicuously, mark-edly, notably, noticeably, strikingly Local people wereconspicuously absent from the meeting. I strangely Heplayed with an abandon that was strangely absent fromhis performance last week.• PREP. from He was absent from toorkfor two weeks.

absorb verb

1 liquid/gas/energy, etc.• ADY. quickly, rapidly I directly, easily, readily• PREP. into Nutrients are absorbed into the bloodstream.

2 make part of sth larger• ADV. gradually I increasingly• PHRASES be absorbed into sth These committees weregradually absorbed into the local government machine.

3 information/atmosphere• ADV. easily, readily The information is presented sothat it can be readily absorbed. I passively

4 interest• ADY. completely, totally, utterly His work absorbedhim completely. I deeply

absorbed adj.

• VERBS appear, be, look, seem I become, get I keepsb Ajigsaw puzzle can keep me absorbed for hours.• ADV. extremely, very I completely, fully, totally, ut-terly He was totally absorbed in his book.• PREP. in

abstract adj.

• VERBS be• ADV. highly, very I entirely, purely purely abstractdrawing I increasingly I fairly, rather, somewhat

absurd adj.

• VERBS be, look, seem, sound I become I find sthShe found the uihole conceptfaintly absurd.• ADY. absolutely, completely, quite, utterly Iclearly,manifestly, patently I faintly, rather, slightly, some-what I wonderfully• PHRASES a sense of the absurd His sense of the ab-surd kept himfrom becoming too solemn.

abundance noun

• ADJ. great, sheer We were amazed by the sheer abun-dance offood. I relative• VERB + ABUNDANCE have The country has an abun-dance of natural resources I produce, provide• PREP. in - Exotic plants grew there in great abundance.

abuse noun

1wrong/bad use of sth• ADJ. alcohol, drug, solvent, substance (= drugs orsolvents)• VERB + ABUSE be open to The legal system is open toabuse.• PHRASES the abuse of power

2

2 bad, usually violent treatment of sb• ADJ. emotional, physical, sex/sexual I child, eldervictims of child abuse I human rights -s allegations ofhuman rights abuses I alleged, suspected• QUANT. case six cases of suspected child abuse• VERB + ABUSE carry out, subject sb to She was sub-jected to regular sexual abuse. I suffer, take The childhad taken a lot of emotional abuse. I suspect sb of• ABUSE + VERB happen, occur, take place• PHRASES an allegation of abuse, a perpetrator ofabuse, a victim of abuse

3 insulting words• ADJ. verbal I personal, racial• QUANT. stream, torrent He was subjected to a torrent ofabuse.• VERB + ABUSE hurl, scream, shout, shower sb with,subject sb to, yell I endure They had to endure continualracial abuse.• PHRASES heap abuse on sb/sthAbuseandscorn wereheaped on the proposals. a target for/of abuse The teamwho lost became a target of abuse for angry fans. a term ofabuse Calling someone stupid is definitely a term of abuse.

abuse verb

• ADY. emotionally, mentally, physically, sexually, ver-bally All the children had beenphysically and emotionallyabused.

abusive adj.

• VERBS be I become, get• ADV. very I quite I openly He became openly abusive.

academic adj.

• VERBS be I become• ADV. merely, purely, strictly The distinction beingmade ispurely academic. I largely, rather, somewhat

academy noun

• ADJ. military, naval, police, riding• VERB + ACADEMY attend, go to• PREP. at an/the- He later studied at the Royal Academy.

accelerate verb

1 go faster• ADV. hard, quickly I smoothly The runners acceler-ated smoothly round the bend. I suddenly I away Thecar purred into life and accelerated away.

2 develop quickly• ADV. dramatically, greatly, rapidly, sharply The Aidsepidemic is accelerating dramatically.

acceleration noun

1 increase in speed• ADJ. rapid• PREP. - in There has been a rapid acceleration in thegrowth of industry:

2 ability of a car to accelerate• ADJ. fast, good This model has the best acceleration ofany available sports car. I poor, slow

accelerator noun

• VERB + ACCELERATOR depress, hit, press, put yourfoot (down) on, step on She put herfoot on the acceleratorand we sped through the traffic lights. I take your foot off• ACCELERATOR + NOUN pedal

accent noun

• ADJ. broad, marked, pronounced, strong, thick Shehad a pronounced Scottish accent. I slight I country, for-

eign, local, regional I plummy, posh, public school Icockney I American, middle-class, northern, etc.• QUANT. hint, trace Her French was excellent, without atrace of an accent.• VERB + ACCENT have, speak in/with I acquire I af-fect, assume, imitate, put on She put on a posh accentwhen she answered the phone. I cultivate I lose He losthis northern accent after moving south.• PREP. in an - She spoke in a broad Midlands accent.with/without an - a tall man with an American accent

accept verb

1 take/receive• ADV. gladly, graciously, gratefully, willingly She gra-ciously accepted my apology. I reluctantly• VERB + ACCEPT be glad to, be happy to I be reluc-tant to, be unwilling to I be unable toI am unfortunatelyunable to accept your kind invitation.• PREP from I accepted the giftfrom my sister.

2 agree/admit• ADV. readily Some people readily accept that they mayhaoe topavfor medical treatment. I fully• VERB + ACCEPT be happy to, be prepared to, beready to, be willing to I be reluctant to, be unwilling to Ibe unable to, refuse to I can/cannot, could (not),will/won't, would (not) The university cannot accept re-sponsibility for items lost or stolen on its premises. I beforced to• PHRASES be commonly/generally/universally/widelyaccepted It is generally accepted that people are motiv-ated by success.

acceptable adj.

• VERBS be, prove, seem I become I make sth an at-tempt to make the reforms acceptable to both sides I con-sidersth, deem sth, find sth Wemust come up with a solu-tion that our shareholders uiillfind acceptable.• ADV. eminently, highly, very Her breeding and back-ground made her eminently acceptable in royal circles. Icompletely, entirely, fully, perfectly, quite, totallyYogurt is a perfectly acceptable substitute for cream incooking. I fairly, reasonably I (not) remotely the onlynational newspaper even remotely acceptable to the leftwing I generally, mutually, universally, widely I easily,readily I equally Are all political and religious groupsequally acceptable? I publicly I commercially, cultural-ly, environmentally, ethically, grammatically, morally,politically, socially a grammatically acceptable sentenceo socially acceptable behaviour• PREP. to a compromise that is acceptable to both sides

acceptance noun

• ADJ. complete, full, total, unconditional, wholeheart-ed I conditional, grudging, reluctant I gradual I great-er, growing, increasing Alternative medicines are nowwinning greater acceptance among doctors. I general,popular, public, universal, wide, widespread I blind,easy, immediate, ready, uncritical, unquestioning, vol-untary Their attitude was condemned as blind acceptanceof authority. I implicit, passive, tacit I formal, official Isocial• VERB + ACCEPTANCE find, gain, win The idea wasslow to gain general acceptance. I seek The group is nowseeking formal acceptance.• ACCEPTANCE + NOUN speech

access noun

• ADJ. direct, easy, free, good, ready, unlimited,unrestricted I lived deep in the country, without easy ac-cess to shops. I limited, poor, restricted Access to this in-formation is severely restricted. I improved I immediate,

3 accident

instant, quick, rapid I equal Men and women shouldhave equal access to education and employment. I publicI vehicular, wheelchair I random (computing) randomaccess memory• VERB + ACCESS have I gain, get I give (sb), offer(sb), provide (sb with) The new computer provides accesstoallthefiles. I demand I seek I allow (sb), grant (sb) Ideny sb, prevent, refuse (sb), restrict Some people arebeing denied access toproper medical care.• ACCESS + NOUN road, route• PREP. - for improved accessfor disabled visitors - to Hetoasfiruilly granted access to the medical records.

accessible adj.

1able to be reached• VERBS be I become I remain I make sth• ADV. directly, easily, freely, readily I fully I reason-ably, relatively I publicly• PREP. by The museum is easily accessible by publictransport. for All the buildings are accessiblefor people inwheelchairs. from The garden is accessible from the lane.to The beach should be accessible to everyone.

2 easy to understand• VERBS be I become I make sth• ADV. easily, highly, immediately, readily, very It iswritten in simple language, immediately accessible to thereader. I widely• PREP. to The cartoon strips are designed to make Shake-speare accessible to children.

accessory noun

1extra item• ADJ. essential, perfect, useful This silk scarf is theperfect accessory for stylish summer eoenings. I bath-room, car, fashion

2 person who helps in crime• PREP. -to an accessory to murder• PHRASES an accessory before/after the fact (~a per-son who knows about a crime before/after it was commit-ted and protects the criminai) (law) If you were lying tothepolice, then you have been an accessory after thefactforall these years.

accident noun

1 unexpected event that causes damage/injury• ADJ. dreadful, horrific, major, nasty, serious, terrible,tragic, unfortunate I fatal a ftital road accident I minor,slight I freak Their boat sank in a freak accident. I near(~that nearly happens, but doesnot) I hit-and-run I air-craft, canoeing, car, climbing, flying, industrial, motor,nuclear, road, traffic, etc.• VERB + ACCIDENT be involved in, have, meet withShe met with an accident while on holiday in Spain. Icause I prevent I survive• ACCIDENT + VERB happen, occur, take place• ACCIDENT + NOUN prevention I rates, statistics• PREP. in an/the-• PHRASES an accident involving He was badly hurt inan accident involving two cars and a lorry. the scene ofthe accident The ambulance took only six minutes toreach the scene of the accident.

2 sth not planned in advance• ADJ. pure, sheer By pure accident he had come acrossthe very man who could solve the mystery.• PREP. by-Wemetbyaccidentattheairport.• PHRASES be no accident that ... It is no accident thatmen fill most of the topjobs. by accident or design It hap-pened, whether by accident or design, that Steve and I werethe last two people to leaiie.

accidental

accidental adj.

• VERBS be• ADV. completely, purely, quite I almost

acclaim noun

• ADJ. great I general, public, universal, wide, wide-spread \ popular \ criticalHer latest novel has won greatcritical acclaim. I international, national, worldwide• VERB + ACCLAIM earn (sb), gain (sb), meet with, re-ceive, win His discoveries earned him wide acclaim.• PREP. to ... - The play opened last week to universal ac-claim. I - for She received international acclaim for herinterpretation of Chopin. -from acclaim from the critics

acclaim verb

• PHRASES be critically acclaimed, be highly/inter-nationally/widely acclaimed This book has been widelyacclaimed as a modern classic.

accolade noun

• ADJ. greatest, highest, supreme, ultimate Four res-taurants have been awarded the highest accolade of athree-star rating.• VERB + ACCOLADE earn, receive, win I award (sb),bestow, grant (sb) I deserve

accommodate verb

• ADV. comfortably, easily It was a large hall, where a lotof people could be comfortably accommodated.• VERB + ACCOMMODATE can/could The car park canaccommodate about 200cars.

accommodation noun

1 place for sb to live/stay• ADJ. comfortable, decent, good, suitable I inad-equate, poor, substandard I excellent, luxurious Iovernight, temporary I permanent I free I private,rented I holiday, hotel I living, residential I sleeping Ibed-and-breakfast I furnished I sheltered Many oldpeople choose to live in sheltered accommodation. I se-cure Weneed more secure accommodation for young pris-oners. I student• VERB + ACCOMMODATION have The council shouldbe able to help families who have no accommodation. Ilook for, seek I find, get, secure I offer (sb), provide(sb with) It is the duty of the local community toprovide ac-commodation.for the homeless.• ACCOMMODATION + NOUN costs• PREP in-

2 satisfactory arrangement• VERB + ACCOMMODATION come to, make, reach,work out I seek• PREP. - between Some accommodation between conser-vation and tourism is essential. -to accommodation to theharsh circumstances of rural life - with They wereforced toreach an accommodation with the rebels.

accompaniment noun

1 sth eaten/drunk with food• ADJ. delicious, good, ideal• VERB + ACCOMPANIMENT be, make• PREP. -for/to These wines also make a good accompani-ment/or vegetarian dishes.

2 music played to go with singing, etc.• ADJ. instrumental, musical, orchestral I piano,string, etc.• VERB + ACCOMPANIMENT provide I compose,write• PREP. to the - of She sang to the accompaniment of gui-tars. with an - Lprefer to sing with an accompaniment.

4

3 sth that happens at the same time• ADJ. essential, inevitable, necessary• PREP. to the-of The women's medical school opened in1874, to the accompaniment of much ridicule of 'ladydoctors'. with the - of the market, with its inevitable ac-companiment of bustle and noise

accomplice noun

• ADJ. Willing Iunwilling , unwitting I alleged• PREP. - in She became his unwitting accomplice in therobbery. -to an accomplice to murder

accomplish verb

• ADV. safely, successfully A rather difficult task hadbeen successfully accomplished. I easily

accomplished adj.

• VERBS be I become• ADV. extremely, highly, very I technically a technical-ly accomplished musician• PREP. at Sarah had become accomplished at runningthe house. in He came to London in 1976, already accom-plished in the English language.

accomplishment noun

• ADJ. considerable, great, real, significant I technicalHer technical accomplishment on the piano is startling.• PREP. of ... - a work of real accomplishment I - in It isa great accomplishment in singing to take the melodic lineup to aposition of energy and hold it there.

accord noun

• ADJ. draft I peace, trade• VERB + ACCORD draw up, negotiate, reach A peaceaccord was reached on 26March. I endorse, ratify, sign• PREP. - between a trade accord between Europe and theUnited States - on an accord on environmental protection-with They signed a trade accord with the Americans.

accord verb

• ADV. fully• PREP. with His version of events does not accord fullywith thefacts.

account noun

1 description• ADJ. brief, short I blow-by-blow, comprehensive,detailed, full, graphic, vivid Hegave us a blow-by-blow ac-count of the incident. I accurate, clear, eyewitness, fac-tual, first-hand, true, verbatim I glowing, good She re-ceived a glowing account of her son's progress. I news-paper the newspaper account of the trial• VERB + ACCOUNT give (sb), provide (sb with), write(sb) Can you give us an account of what happened?• PREP. in an/the- Dr Richardsdescribes this very well inhis account of the events.• PHRASES by all accounts (= according to what peoplesay) I'ue never been there, but it's a lovely place by all ac-counts. by sb's own account By his own account he hadan unhappy childhood.

2 arrangement with a bank• ADJ. bank, building society I current I deposit, in-vestment, savings I personal I business I joint, sep-arate My husband and I have separate accounts. I num-bered They have a numbered account in Switzerland.• VERB + ACCOUNT have, hold Go and see the managerof the bank where your account is held. I open She openeda savings account at the building society. I close I creditsth to, pay/put sth into The money will be credited toyouraccount tomorrow. I debit (sth from), draw sth out (of),

pay sth from, take sth out (of), withdraw sth (from) Shehad taken all her money out of her account. I overdrawYour account is overdrawn.• PREP. - at He opened an account at a bank in Germany.-with an account with Barclays Bank

3 accounts record of money a business earns/spends• VERB + ACCOUNTS do, keep Try to keep accurate ac-counts. I audit, check, look at I submit Your accountswill need to be submitted to the tax office.• ACCOUNTS + VERB be in order The accounts are all inorder.<=> Special pageat BUSINESS

4 arrangement with a shop/business• ADJ. expense (= an arrangement to charge expensesto your own employers) taking clients for expense accountlunches• VERB + ACCOUNT have I open I'd like to open an ac-count, please. I close I payoff, settle It is best to settle theaccount each month. I charge sth to, debit (sth from),put sth on Charge this to my account, please. I credit sthto• PREP. on - Ring for a cab on account. I - at/with an ac-count with a large store

account verb

PHRASAL VERB

account for sth• ADV. fully The increase can be fully accounted for. Ipartly The differences in achievement between the pupilsare partly accountedfor by differences in age.

accountability noun

• ADJ. greater, increased I local, public demands forgreater public accountability in the police service I demo-cratic, financial, managerial, moral, parliamentary, po-lice, political, professional I government, police• VERB + ACCOUNTABILITY enhance, improve, in-crease, strengthen I reduce, weaken This process ofcentralizationfurther weakens accountability. I ensure• PREP. - for to ensure accountability for decisions made-to police accountability to the public• PHRASES a demand for accountability, a lack of ac-countability the apparent lack of accountability of the se-curity forces a need for accountability There is a needforincreased professional accountability.

accountable adj.

• VERBS be I become I make sb I hold sb The direct-ors are held accountable by the shareholders.• ADV. fully, properly I directly Senior managers aredirectly accountable to the Board of Directors. I publiclyLocal authorities should be publicly accountable to thecommunities they serve. I democratically a democratical-lyaccountableparliament I financially, politically• PREP. for In the end, we are all accountable for our ac-tions. to Politicians are accountable to Parliament.

accountancy noun

• ADJ. chartered I creative It had taken considerable'creative accountancy' on my part to produce a set of fig-ures that showed us making any profit at all.• ACCOUNTANCY + NOUN firm, practice I body themembers of the different professional accountancy bodiesI professionqNote at SUBJECT (for more verbs and nouns)

accountant noun

• ADJ. certified, chartered I professional, qualified Itrainee I retired I independent, self-employed I com-pany I chief Wetalked to the company's chief accountant.

5 accuse

I management I investigating, reporting the investigat-ing accountant's reportqNote at PROFESSIONAL (for verbs)

accumulate verb

• ADV. gradually, slowly I steadily I rapidly• VERB + ACCUMULATE begin to I be allowed to Dirtmust not be allowed to accumulate. I tend to Toxic chem-icals tend to accumulate in the body.

accumulation noun

• ADJ. rapid I steady the steady accumulation of evi-dence by the police I slow I great, impressive, large,massive a massive accumulation of facts about the motorindustry I capitallfinance)• VERB + ACCUMULATION lead to I prevent

accuracy noun

• ADJ. absolute, complete, deadly, perfect, pinpoint,total, unerring The needle has to be positioned with pin-point accuracy. I amazing, considerable, great, high(technical), remarkable, uncanny I reasonable, suffi-cient I factual, historical, technical• QUANT. degree, level The missiles are capable of a veryhigh degree of accuracy.• VERB + ACCURACY improve, increase Weare hopingto improve the accuracy of our forecasts. I check, con-firm, test I ensure Great care is taken to ensure the accur-acy of research data. I doubt, question Many peoplebegan to question the accuracy of his statement.• PREP. with - It is possible to predict the outcome withreasonable accuracy.

accurate adj.

• VERBS be, prove His predictions proved accurate.• ADV. deadly, extremely, highly, very I amazingly, re-markably, surprisingly, uncannily I completely, per-fectly, totally I not completely, not entirely, not quite,not strictly, not wholly Thefigures he gave were not strict-lyaccurate. I partially I broadly, fairly, generally, large-ly, pretty, quite, reasonably, sufficiently I historically,statistically• PHRASES full and accurate Hegave afull and accurateaccount of his movements.

accusation noun

• ADJ. serious I false, groundless, unfounded, unjust,wild I bitter I mutual They sank into mutual accusationand incrimination. I public I veiled She made a lot ofthinly veiled accusations. I renewed, repeated• VERB + ACCUSATION level at, make an accusationfrequently levelled at junior doctors I face Their fathernow faces an accusation of murder. I deny, dismiss, re-fute, reject I prove, support New evidence has emergedwhich supports the accusation against her.• ACCUSATION + VERB fly about/around There seem tobea lot of wild accusations flying around.• PREP. amid -s Hefled the country amid accusations offraud. I - against You made a public accusation of mis-conduct against Nigel.• PHRASES bring an accusation against sb She rejectedall the accusations brought against her.

accuse verb

• ADV. practically, virtually She practically accused me ofstarting the fire! I falsely, unjustly, wrongly I angrily Iopenly, publicly They openly accused her cf dishonesty.• VERB + ACCUSE cannot/could not You can't accuseme of being selfish.• PREP. of No one could ever accuse this government ofnot caring about the poor.