(~s, ~ing, ~ed)
Frequency: The word is one of the 1500 most common words in English.
1.
If you have ~ or ~s about something, you feel uncertain about it and do not know whether it is true or possible. If you say you have no ~ about it, you mean that you are certain it is true.
This raises ~s about the point of advertising...
I had my ~s when she started, but she’s getting really good...
There can be little ~ that he will offend again...
= uncertainty
N-VAR: oft N about/as to n, N that
2.
If you ~ whether something is true or possible, you believe that it is probably not true or possible.
Others ~ed whether that would happen...
He ~ed if he would learn anything new from Marie...
She ~ed that the accident could have been avoided.
VERB: V wh, V if, V that
3.
If you ~ something, you believe that it might not be true or genuine.
No one ~ed his ability...
VERB: V n
4.
If you ~ someone or ~ their word, you think that they may not be telling the truth.
No one directly involved with the case ~ed him...
? trust
VERB: V n
5.
You say that something is beyond ~ or beyond reasonable ~ when you are certain that it is true and it cannot be contradicted or disproved.
A referendum showed beyond ~ that voters wanted independence...
PHRASE: PHR after v, v-link PHR emphasis
6.
If you are in ~ about something, you feel unsure or uncertain about it.
He is in no ~ as to what is needed...
When in ~, call the doctor.
PHRASE: v-link PHR, oft PHR about/as to n
7.
You say I ~ it as a response to a question or statement about something that you think is untrue or unlikely.
‘Somebody would have seen her.’—‘I ~ it, not on Monday.’
CONVENTION
8.
If you say that something is in ~ or open to ~, you consider it to be uncertain or unreliable.
The outcome was still in ~...
That claim is increasingly open to ~.
= uncertain
PHRASE: v-link PHR
9.
You use no ~ to emphasize that something seems certain or very likely to you.
The contract for this will no ~ be widely advertised...
= un~edly
PHRASE: PHR with cl emphasis
10.
You use no ~ to indicate that you accept the truth of a particular point, but that you do not consider it is important or contradicts the rest of what you are saying.
No ~ many will regard these as harsh words, but regrettably they are true.
PHRASE: PHR with cl
11.
If you say that something is true without ~ or without a ~, you are emphasizing that it is definitely true.
Without ~ this was the most important relationship I developed at college...
= un~edly
PHRASE: PHR with cl emphasis
12.
the benefit of the ~: see benefit
a shadow of a ~: see shadow