(~s)
Frequency: The word is one of the 700 most common words in English.
1.
If you refer to a ~ of doing something, you are referring to how you can do it, for example the action you can take or the method you can use to achieve it.
Another ~ of making new friends is to go to an evening class...
I worked myself into a frenzy plotting ~s to make him jealous...
I can’t think of a worse ~ to spend my time...
There just might be a ~...
‘All right, Mrs Bates,’ she said. ‘We’ll do it your ~’.
N-COUNT: oft N of -ing, N to-inf
2.
If you talk about the ~ someone does something, you are talking about the qualities their action has.
She smiled in a friendly ~...
He had a strange ~ of talking...
N-COUNT: usu sing, usu adj N
3.
If a general statement or description is true in a particular ~, this is the form of it that is true in a particular case.
Computerized reservation systems help airline profits in several ~s...
She was afraid in a ~ that was quite new to her...
N-COUNT: with supp, oft in N
4.
You use ~ in expressions such as in some ~s, in many ~s, and in every ~ to indicate the degree or extent to which a statement is true.
In some ~s, the official opening is a formality...
She described her lover as ‘perfect in every ~’.
= respect
N-COUNT: in N with supp
5.
The ~s of a particular person or group of people are their customs or their usual behaviour.
He denounces people who urge him to alter his ~s...
He said he was against returning to old authoritarian ~s.
N-PLURAL: with supp
6.
If you refer to someone’s ~, you are referring to their usual or preferred type of behaviour.
She is now divorced and, in her usual resourceful ~, has started her own business...
Direct confrontation was not his ~.
N-SING: with poss
7.
You use ~ to refer to one particular opinion or interpretation of something, when others are possible.
I suppose that’s one ~ of looking at it...
With most of Dylan’s lyrics, however, there are other ~s of interpreting the words...
Sometimes, the bank manager just doesn’t see it your ~.
N-COUNT: with supp
8.
You use ~ when mentioning one of a number of possible, alternative results or decisions.
There is no indication which ~ the vote could go...
The judge could have decided either ~.
N-COUNT: with supp
9.
The ~ you feel about something is your attitude to it or your opinion about it.
I’m terribly sorry–I had no idea you felt that ~.
N-SING: with supp
10.
If you mention the ~ that something happens, you are mentioning the fact that it happens.
I hate the ~ he manipulates people...
You may remember the ~ each scene ended with someone looking pensive or significant.
N-SING: the N that
11.
You use ~ in expressions such as push your ~, work your ~, or eat your ~, followed by a prepositional phrase or adverb, in order to indicate movement, progress, or force as well as the action described by the verb.
She thrust her ~ into the crowd...
He thought we were trying to buy our ~ into his company...
N-SING: poss N
12.
The ~ somewhere consists of the different places that you go through or the route that you take in order to get there.
Does anybody know the ~ to the bathroom?...
I’m afraid I can’t remember the ~...
We’re not even a third of the ~ there...
N-COUNT: usu the N in sing, oft N to n
13.
If you go or look a particular ~, you go or look in that direction.
As he strode into the kitchen, he passed Pop coming the other ~...
They paused at the top of the stairs, doubtful as to which ~ to go next...
Could you look this ~?
N-SING: with supp
14.
You can refer to the direction you are travelling in as your ~. (SPOKEN)
She would say she was going my ~ and offer me a lift.
N-SING: poss N
15.
If you lose your ~, you take a wrong or unfamiliar route, so that you do not know how to get to the place that you want to go to. If you find your ~, you manage to get to the place that you want to go to.
The men lost their ~ in a sandstorm and crossed the border by mistake...
N-SING: poss N
16.
You talk about people going their different ~s in order to say that their lives develop differently and they have less contact with each other.
It wasn’t until we each went our separate ~s that I began to learn how to do things for myself...
You go your ~ and I’ll go mine.
N-COUNT: poss N
17.
If something comes your ~, you get it or receive it.
Take advantage of the opportunities coming your ~ in a couple of months...
If I run into anything that might interest you, I’ll send it your ~.
N-SING: poss N
18.
If someone or something is in the ~, they prevent you from moving forward or seeing clearly.
‘You’re standing in the ~,’ she said. ‘Would you mind moving aside’...
Get out of my ~!
N-SING: the /poss N, in/out of N
19.
You use ~ in expressions such as the right ~ up and the other ~ around to refer to one of two or more possible positions or arrangements that something can have.
The flag was held the wrong ~ up by some spectators...
It’s important to fit it the right ~ round.
N-SING: with supp
20.
You can use ~ to emphasize, for example, that something is a great distance a~ or is very much below or above a particular level or amount.
Way down in the valley to the west is the town of Freiburg...
These exam results are ~ above average...
ADV: ADV adv/prep emphasis
21.
If you split something a number of ~s, you divide it into a number of different parts or quantities, usually fairly equal in size.
The region was split three ~s, between Greece, Serbia and Bulgaria...
Splitting the price six ~s had still cost them each a bundle.
N-PLURAL: num N
•
Way is also a combining form.
...a simple three-~ division.
COMB in ADJ: ADJ n
22.
Way is used in expressions such as a long ~, a little ~, and quite a ~, to say how far a~ something is or how far you have travelled.
Some of them live in places quite a long ~ from here...
A little ~ further down the lane we passed the drive~ to a house...
N-SING: a N, usu supp N
23.
Way is used in expressions such as a long ~, a little ~, and quite a ~, to say how far a~ in time something is.
Success is still a long ~ off...
August is still an awfully long ~ a~.
N-SING: a N, usu supp N
24.
You use ~ in expressions such as all the ~, most of the ~ and half the ~ to refer to the extent to which an action has been completed.
He had unscrewed the caps most of the ~...
When was the last time you listened to an album all the ~ through?
N-SING: predet/quant the N
25.
You use all the ~ to emphasize how long a distance is.
He had to walk all the ~ home...
PHRASE: usu PHR after v, oft PHR adv/prep emphasis
26.
You can use all the ~ to emphasize that your remark applies to every part of a situation, activity, or period of time.
Having started a revolution we must go all the ~...
PHRASE: PHR after v emphasis
27.
If someone says that you can’t have it both ~s, they are telling you that you have to choose between two things and cannot do or have them both.
Countries cannot have it both ~s: the cost of a cleaner environment may sometimes be fewer jobs in dirty industries...
PHRASE: V inflects
28.
You say by the ~ when you add something to what you are saying, especially something that you have just thought of. (SPOKEN)
The name Latifah, by the ~, means ‘delicate’...
By the ~, how did your seminar go?
= incidentally
PHRASE: PHR with cl
29.
You use by ~ of when you are explaining the purpose of something that you have said or are about to say. For example, if you say something by ~ of an introduction, you say it as an introduction.
‘I get very superstitious about things like that,’ she said by ~ of explanation.
PREP-PHRASE: PREP n
30.
If someone changes their ~s or mends their ~s, they permanently improve their behaviour or their ~ of doing something.
What can be done to encourage convicted offenders to change their ~s?
= reform
PHRASE: V inflects
31.
If you clear the ~, open the ~, or prepare the ~ for something, you create an opportunity for it to happen.
The talks are meant to clear the ~ for formal negotiations on a new constitution...
The decision could open the ~ for other children to sue their parents.
PHRASE: V inflects, usu PHR for n
32.
If you say that someone takes the easy ~ out, you disapprove of them because they do what is easiest for them in a difficult situation, rather than dealing with it properly.
It is the easy ~ out to blame others for our failure.
PHRASE: PHR after v, v-link PHR disapproval
33.
You use either ~ in order to introduce a statement which is true in each of the two possible or alternative cases that you have just mentioned.
The sea may rise or the land may fall; either ~ the sand dunes will be gone in a short time.
PHRASE: PHR with cl
34.
If you say that a particular type of action or development is the ~ forward, you approve of it because it is likely to lead to success.
...people who genuinely believe that anarchy is the ~ forward...
PHRASE: usu v-link PHR approval
35.
If someone gets their ~ or has their ~, nobody stops them doing what they want to do. You can also say that someone gets their own ~ or has their own ~.
She is very good at using her charm to get her ~.
PHRASE: V inflects
36.
If one thing gives ~ to another, the first thing is replaced by the second.
First he had been numb. Then the numbness gave ~ to anger...
PHRASE: V inflects, PHR n
37.
If an object that is supporting something gives ~, it breaks or collapses, so that it can no longer support that thing.
The hook in the ceiling had given ~ and the lamp had fallen blazing on to the table.
PHRASE: V inflects
38.
If you give ~ to someone or something that you have been resisting, you stop resisting and allow yourself to be persuaded or controlled by them. (WRITTEN)
It seems the President has given ~ to pressure from the hardliners...
= give in, yield
PHRASE: V inflects, usu PHR to n
39.
If a moving person, a vehicle, or its driver gives ~, they slow down or stop in order to allow other people or vehicles to pass in front of them. (BRIT; in AM, use yield )
Give ~ to traffic coming from the left.
PHRASE: V inflects, oft PHR to n
40.
If you say that someone or something has a ~ of doing a particular thing, you mean that they often do it.
Bosses have a ~ of al~s finding out about such things.
PHRASE: V inflects, PHR -ing
41.
If you say that a person has a ~ with something or someone, you mean that that person seems to have a natural skill or instinct for dealing with them. (mainly SPOKEN)
Constance doesn’t have a ~ with words like you do...
PHRASE: V inflects, PHR n approval
42.
You use in no ~ or not in any ~ to emphasize that a statement is not at all true.
A spokesman insisted the two events were ‘in no ~ related’...
PHRASE emphasis
43.
If you say that something is true in a ~, you mean that although it is not completely true, it is true to a limited extent or in certain respects. You use in a ~ to reduce the force of a statement.
In a ~, I suppose I’m frightened of failing...
It made things very unpleasant in a ~.
PHRASE: PHR with cl vagueness
44.
If you say that someone gets in the ~ or is in the ~, you are annoyed because their presence or their actions stop you doing something properly.
‘We wouldn’t get in the ~,’ Suzanne promised. ‘We’d just stand quietly in a corner.’
PHRASE: V inflects
45.
To get in the ~ of something means to make it difficult for it to happen, continue, or be appreciated properly.
She had a job which never got in the ~ of her leisure interests.
PHRASE: V inflects, oft PHR of n
46.
If you know your ~ around a particular subject, system, or job, or if you know your ~ about it, you know all the procedures and facts about it.
He knows his ~ around the intricate maze of European law...
PHRASE: V inflects, PHR n
47.
If you lead the ~ along a particular route, you go along it in front of someone in order to show them where to go.
She grabbed his suitcase and led the ~.
PHRASE: V inflects
48.
If a person or group leads the ~ in a particular activity, they are the first person or group to do it or they make the most new developments in it.
Sony has also led the ~ in shrinking the size of compact-disc players.
PHRASE: V inflects, usu PHR in -ing/n
49.
If you say that someone or something has come a long ~, you mean that they have developed, progressed, or become very successful.
He has come a long ~ since the days he could only afford one meal a day.
PHRASE: have inflects, oft PHR since n
50.
You can use by a long ~ to emphasize that something is, for example, much better, worse, or bigger than any other thing of that kind.
It was, by a long ~, the worst meeting I have ever attended...
PHRASE: PHR with cl, compar/superl PHR emphasis
51.
If you say that something is a long ~ from being true, you are emphasizing that it is definitely not true.
She is a long ~ from being the richest person in Britain...
PHRASE: v-link PHR n/-ing emphasis
52.
If you say that something goes a long ~ towards doing a particular thing, you mean that it is an important factor in achieving that thing.
Although by no means a cure, it goes a long ~ towards making the patient’s life more tolerable.
PHRASE: V inflects, usu PHR towards/to -ing/n
53.
If you say that someone has lost their ~, you are criticizing them because they do not have any good ideas any more, or seem to have become unsure about what to do.
Why has the White House lost its ~ on tax and budget policy?
PHRASE: V inflects disapproval
54.
When you make your ~ somewhere, you walk or travel there.
He made his ~ home at last.
PHRASE: V inflects, PHR prep/adv
55.
If one person or thing makes ~ for another, the first is replaced by the second.
He said he was prepared to make ~ for younger people in the party...
PHRASE: V inflects, usu PHR for n
56.
If you say there’s no ~ that something will happen, you are emphasizing that you think it will definitely not happen.
There was absolutely no ~ that we were going to be able to retrieve it.
PHRASE: V inflects, usu PHR that emphasis
57.
You can say no ~ as an emphatic ~ of saying no. (INFORMAL)
Mike, no ~ am I playing cards with you for money...
PHRASE emphasis
58.
You use in the ~ of or by ~ of in order to specify the kind of thing you are talking about.
Latvia is a country without much in the ~ of natural resources...
Meetings held today produced little in the ~ of an agreement...
The man with whom she maintains a relationship provides nothing by ~ of support.
PHRASE: PHR n, usu amount/n PHR n
59.
If you are on your ~, you have started your journey somewhere.
He has been allowed to leave the country and is on his ~ to Britain...
By sunrise tomorrow we’ll be on our ~.
PHRASE: V inflects, oft PHR prep/adv
60.
If something happens on the ~ or along the ~, it happens during the course of a particular event or process.
You may have to learn a few new skills along the ~.
PHRASE
61.
If you are on your ~ or well on your ~ to something, you have made so much progress that you are almost certain to achieve that thing.
I am now out of hospital and well on the ~ to recovery.
PHRASE: usu v-link PHR to n/-ing
62.
If something is on the ~, it will arrive soon.
The forecasters say more snow is on the ~...
She is married with twin sons and a third child on the ~.
PHRASE: v-link PHR, with/have n PHR
63.
You can use one ~ or another or one ~ or the other when you want to say that something definitely happens, but without giving any details about how it happens.
You know pretty well everyone here, one ~ or the other.
PHRASE: PHR after v, PHR with cl vagueness
64.
You use one ~ or the other or one ~ or another to refer to two possible decisions or conclusions that have previously been mentioned, without stating which one is reached or preferred.
We’ve got to make our decision one ~ or the other...
I didn’t really care one ~ or another.
PHRASE: PHR after v
65.
You use the other ~ around or the other ~ round to refer to the opposite of what you have just said.
You’d think you were the one who did me the favor, and not the other ~ around.
PHRASE
66.
If something or someone is on the ~ out or on their ~ out, they are likely to disappear or to be replaced very soon.
There are encouraging signs that cold war attitudes are on the ~ out...
PHRASE: usu v-link PHR
67.
If you go out of your ~ to do something, for example to help someone, you make a special effort to do it.
He was very kind to me and seemed to go out of his ~ to help me.
PHRASE: V inflects, usu PHR to-inf
68.
If you keep out of someone’s ~ or stay out of their ~, you avoid them or do not get involved with them.
I’d kept out of his ~ as much as I could...
He warned the army to stay out of the ~ of the relief effort.
PHRASE: V inflects
69.
When something is out of the ~, it has finished or you have dealt with it, so that it is no longer a problem or needs no more time spent on it.
The plan has to remain confidential at least until the local elections are out of the ~...
PHRASE: v-link PHR, PHR after v
70.
If you go your own ~, you do what you want rather than what everyone else does or expects.
In school I was a loner. I went my own ~.
PHRASE: V inflects
71.
You use in the same ~ to introduce a situation that you are comparing with one that you have just mentioned, because there is a strong similarity between them.
There is no reason why a gifted aircraft designer should also be a capable pilot. In the same ~, a brilliant pilot can be a menace behind the wheel of a car.
= likewise
PHRASE: PHR with cl
72.
You can use that ~ and this ~ to refer to a statement or comment that you have just made.
Some of us have habits few people know about and we keep it this ~...
We have a beautiful city and we pray it stays that ~...
PHRASE: PHR after v, adj PHR
73.
You can use that ~ or this ~ to refer to an action or situation that you have just mentioned, when you go on to mention the likely consequence or effect of it.
Keep the soil moist. That ~, the seedling will flourish...
PHRASE: PHR with cl
74.
If an activity or plan is under ~, it has begun and is now taking place.
A full-scale security operation is now under ~...
The court case got under ~ last autumn.
PHRASE: usu v-link PHR
75.
Every which ~ and any which ~ are used to emphasize that something happens, or might happen, in a lot of different ~s, or using a lot of different methods. (AM; also BRIT INFORMAL)
He re-ran the experiment every which ~ he could...
PHRASE: PHR after v, oft PHR cl emphasis
76.
Every which ~ is used to emphasize that things move in a lot of different directions or are arranged in a lot of different positions. (AM; also BRIT INFORMAL)
...cars parked every which ~.
PHRASE: PHR after v emphasis
77.
to see the error of your ~s: see error