(~s, ~ing, ~ed)
Frequency: The word is one of the 1500 most common words in English.
1.
If you ~ about something, you think about it, either because it interests you and you want to know more about it, or because you are worried or suspicious about it.
I ~ed what that noise was...
‘He claims to be her father,’ said Max. ‘We’ve been ~ing about him.’...
But there was something else, too. Not hard evidence, but it made me ~.
VERB: V wh, V about n, V
2.
If you ~ at something, you are very surprised about it or think about it in a very surprised way.
Walk down Castle Street, admire our little jewel of a cathedral, then ~ at the castle...
We all ~ you’re still alive.
VERB: V at n, V that
3.
If you say that it is a ~ that something happened, you mean that it is very surprising and unexpected.
It’s a ~ that it took almost ten years...
The ~ is that Olivier was not seriously hurt.
N-SING
4.
Wonder is a feeling of great surprise and pleasure that you have, for example when you see something that is very beautiful, or when something happens that you thought was impossible.
‘That’s right!’ Bobby exclaimed in ~. ‘How did you remember that?’...
N-UNCOUNT
5.
A ~ is something that causes people to feel great surprise or admiration.
...a lecture on the ~s of space and space exploration.
...the ~ of seeing his name in print...
N-COUNT: usu the N of n/-ing
6.
If you refer, for example, to a young man as a ~ boy, or to a new product as a ~ drug, you mean that they are believed by many people to be very good or very effective.
Mickelson was hailed as the ~ boy of American golf...
ADJ: ADJ n
7.
You can say ‘I ~’ if you want to be very polite when you are asking someone to do something, or when you are asking them for their opinion or for information.
I was just ~ing if you could help me...
PHRASE: V inflects, usu PHR wh politeness
8.
If you say ‘no ~’, ‘little ~’, or ‘small ~’, you mean that something is not surprising.
No ~ my brother wasn’t feeling well...
Under such circumstances, it is little ~ that they experience difficulties...
PHRASE: PHR that
9.
You can say ‘No ~’ when you find out the reason for something that has been puzzling you for some time.
Brad was Jane’s brother! No ~ he reminded me so much of her!
PHRASE: PHR that
10.
If you say that a person or thing works ~s or does ~s, you mean that they have a very good effect on something.
A few moments of relaxation can work ~s...
PHRASE: V inflects, oft PHR for n/-ing, PHR with/on n