(~s, noting, ~d)
Frequency: The word is one of the 1500 most common words in English.
1.
A ~ is a short letter.
Stevens wrote him a ~ asking him to come to his apartment...
I’ll have to leave a ~ for Karen.
= message
N-COUNT
2.
A ~ is something that you write down to remind yourself of something.
I knew that if I didn’t make a ~ I would lose the thought so I asked to borrow a pen or pencil...
Take ~s during the consultation as the final written report is very concise.
N-COUNT
3.
In a book or article, a ~ is a short piece of additional information.
See Note 16 on page p. 223.
N-COUNT
4.
A ~ is a short document that has to be signed by someone and that gives official information about something.
Since Mr Bennett was going to need some time off work, he asked for a sick ~...
I’ve got half a ton of gravel in the lorry but he won’t sign my delivery ~.
N-COUNT: with supp
5.
You can refer to a bank~ as a ~. (BRIT; in AM, use bill )
They exchange travellers cheques at a different rate from ~s.
...a five pound ~.
N-COUNT
6.
In music, a ~ is the sound of a particular pitch, or a written symbol representing this sound.
She has a deep voice and doesn’t even try for the high ~s...
N-COUNT: usu with supp
7.
You can use ~ to refer to a particular quality in someone’s voice that shows how they are feeling.
There is an unmistakable ~ of nostalgia in his voice when he looks back on the early years of the family business...
It was not difficult for him to catch the ~ of bitterness in my voice.
= tone
N-SING: with supp, usu N of n
8.
You can use ~ to refer to a particular feeling, impression, or atmosphere.
Yesterday’s testimony began on a ~ of passionate but civilized disagreement...
Somehow he tells these stories without a ~ of horror...
The furniture strikes a traditional ~ which is appropriate to its Edwardian setting.
N-SING: with supp
9.
If you ~ a fact, you become aware of it.
The White House has ~d his promise to support any attack that was designed to enforce the UN resolutions...
Suddenly, I ~d that the rain had stopped...
Haig ~d how he ‘looked pinched and rather tired’.
VERB: V n, V that, V wh
10.
If you tell someone to ~ something, you are drawing their attention to it.
Note the statue to Sallustio Bandini, a prominent Sienese...
Please ~ that there are a limited number of tickets.
VERB: V n, V that
11.
If you ~ something, you mention it in order to draw people’s attention to it.
The report ~s that export and import volumes picked up in leading economies...
The yearbook also ~d a sharp drop in reported cases of sexually transmitted disease.
= observe
VERB: V that, V n
12.
When you ~ something, you write it down as a record of what has happened.
‘He has had his tonsils out and has been ill, too,’ she ~d in her diary...
One policeman was clearly visible noting the number plates of passing cars...
A guard came and took our names and ~d where each of us was sitting.
VERB: V with quote, V n, V wh, also V that
13.
see also ~d , promissory ~ , sleeve ~
14.
If you compare ~s with someone on a particular subject, you talk to them and find out whether their opinion, information, or experience is the same as yours.
The women were busily comparing ~s on the queen’s outfit...
= discuss
PHRASE: V inflects, oft PHR on n, PHR with n
15.
Someone or something that is of ~ is important, worth mentioning, or well-known.
...politicians of ~...
He has published nothing of ~ in the last ten years.
PHRASE: n PHR
16.
If someone or something strikes a particular ~ or sounds a particular ~, they create a particular feeling, impression, or atmosphere.
Before his first round of discussions, Mr Baker sounded an optimistic ~...
Plants growing out of cracks in paving strike the right ~ up a cottage-garden path.
PHRASE: V inflects
17.
If you take ~ of something, you pay attention to it because you think that it is important or significant.
Take ~ of the weather conditions...
They took ~ that she showed no surprise at the news of the murder.
PHRASE: V inflects, oft PHR of n, PHR that
18.
to make a mental ~: see mental