(~s, ~ing, ~ed)
Frequency: The word is one of the 700 most common words in English.
1.
You use ~ to refer to something that someone has said or written.
We disagree with every ~ Mr Blunkett makes...
The following tale will clearly illustrate this ~.
N-COUNT
2.
If you say that someone has a ~, or if you take their ~, you mean that you accept that what they have said is important and should be considered.
‘If he’d already killed once, surely he’d have killed Sarah?’ She had a ~ there...
N-SING: a N, poss N
3.
The ~ of what you are saying or discussing is the most important part that provides a reason or explanation for the rest.
‘Did I ask you to talk to me?’—‘That’s not the ~.’...
The American Congress and media mostly missed the ~ about all this.
N-SING: the N
4.
If you ask what the ~ of something is, or say that there is no ~ in it, you are indicating that a particular action has no purpose or would not be useful.
What was the ~ of thinking about him?...
There was no ~ in staying any longer.
N-SING: usu N of/in n/-ing
5.
A ~ is a detail, aspect, or quality of something or someone.
The most interesting ~ about the village was its religion...
Science was never my strong ~ at school.
N-COUNT: usu with supp
6.
A ~ is a particular place or position where something happens.
The pain originated from a ~ in his right thigh.
N-COUNT
7.
You use ~ to refer to a particular time, or to a particular stage in the development of something.
We’re all going to die at some ~...
At this ~ Diana arrived...
It got to the ~ where he had to leave.
N-SING: with supp, oft at N
8.
The ~ of something such as a pin, needle, or knife is the thin, sharp end of it.
N-COUNT: oft N of n
9.
In spoken English, you use ~ to refer to the dot or mark in a decimal number that separates the whole numbers from the fractions.
Inflation at nine ~ four percent is the worst for eight years.
10.
In some sports, competitions, and games, a ~ is one of the single marks that are added together to give the total score.
They lost the 1977 World Cup final to Australia by a single ~...
N-COUNT
11.
The ~s of the compass are directions such as North, South, East, and West.
Sightseers arrived from all ~s of the compass.
N-COUNT: usu with supp
12.
On a railway track, the ~s are the levers and rails at a place where two tracks join or separate. The ~s enable a train to move from one track to another. (BRIT; in AM, use switches )
...the rattle of the wheels across the ~s.
N-PLURAL
13.
A ~ is an electric socket. (BRIT)
...too far away from the nearest electrical ~.
N-COUNT: usu supp N
14.
If you ~ at a person or thing, you hold out your finger towards them in order to make someone notice them.
I ~ed at the boy sitting nearest me...
He ~ed to a chair, signalling for her to sit.
VERB: V at n, V to n
15.
If you ~ something at someone, you aim the tip or end of it towards them.
David Khan ~ed his finger at Mary...
A man ~ed a gun at them and pulled the trigger.
VERB: V n at n, V n at n
16.
If something ~s to a place or ~s in a particular direction, it shows where that place is or it faces in that direction.
An arrow ~ed to the toilets...
You can go anywhere and still the compass ~s north or south...
VERB: V prep/adv, V prep/adv
17.
If something ~s to a particular situation, it suggests that the situation exists or is likely to occur.
Private polls and embassy reports ~ed to a no vote.
VERB: V to n
18.
If you ~ to something that has happened or that is happening, you are using it as proof that a particular situation exists.
George Fodor ~s to other weaknesses in the way the campaign has progressed...
VERB: V to n
19.
When builders ~ a wall, they put a substance such as cement into the gaps between the bricks or stones in order to make the wall stronger and seal it.
VERB: V n
20.
see also ~ed , breaking ~ , focal ~ , ~ of sale , ~ of view , power ~ , sticking ~ , vantage ~
21.
If you say that something is beside the ~, you mean that it is not relevant to the subject that you are discussing.
Brian didn’t like it, but that was beside the ~.
= irrelevant
PHRASE: v-link PHR
22.
When someone comes to the ~ or gets to the ~, they start talking about the thing that is most important to them.
Was she ever going to get to the ~?
PHRASE: V inflects
23.
If you make your ~ or prove your ~, you prove that something is true, either by arguing about it or by your actions or behaviour.
I think you’ve made your ~, dear...
The tie-break proved the ~.
PHRASE: V inflects
24.
If you make a ~ of doing something, you do it in a very deliberate or obvious way.
She made a ~ of spending as much time as possible away from Osborne House.
PHRASE: V inflects, PHR -ing
25.
If you are on the ~ of doing something, you are about to do it.
He was on the ~ of saying something when the phone rang...
She looked on the ~ of tears.
PHRASE: v-link PHR n/-ing
26.
Something that is to the ~ is relevant to the subject that you are discussing, or expressed neatly without wasting words or time.
The description which he had been given was brief and to the ~.
PHRASE: v-link PHR
27.
If you say that something is true up to a ~, you mean that it is partly but not completely true.
‘Was she good?’—‘Mmm. Up to a ~.’
PHRASE: PHR with cl
28.
a case in ~: see case
in ~ of fact: see fact
to ~ the finger at someone : see finger
a sore ~: see sore