adverb
COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES
about/almost equal
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They are about equal in height and weight.
almost certainly
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The girl was almost certainly murdered.
almost tangible
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The silence of the countryside was almost tangible .
almost/nearly impossible
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He thought that winning would be almost impossible.
almost/nearly/near perfect
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His collection included an almost perfect skeleton of an armadillo.
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Her performance was near perfect.
almost...not quite
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Dinner’s almost ready, but not quite .
almost/virtually certain
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It is almost certain that she will be given a prison sentence.
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Prices are virtually certain to increase.
almost/virtually unanimous
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The decision to appoint Matt was almost unanimous.
almost/virtually/practically etc nonexistent
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On a Sunday morning traffic was almost nonexistent.
totally/completely/almost/partially blind
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She’s almost blind in her right eye.
virtually/almost/practically useless
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These flaws could make the software virtually useless in a business environment.
virtually/practically/almost etc invisible
COLLOCATIONS FROM CORPUS
■ ADJECTIVE
certain
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I said that this was almost certain but the process was rather slow.
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And it is almost certain that no reporter will go down into the mines to find out.
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Most important, the Federal Reserve and Greenspan are almost certain to keep interest rates stable.
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Maintaining an inventory is almost certain to assure a higher loss payment.
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It stunned Boro and their frustration turned to anger after being denied an almost certain penalty.
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You are almost certain to get hundreds of Web pages to examine.
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Male speaker Death and injury were almost certain .
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The almost certain one is a third party candidacy by Ross Perot or even Pat Buchanan.
identical
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But while axeheads from different societies may perform widely differing social functions, the axeheads themselves may be almost identical .
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It has a bone handle and three blades, almost identical to the one my daddy used to carry.
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Pollen was an almost identical diet and it still remains a most important prize.
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A search through their genes reveals a set almost identical to those that help make the wing of a fruit fly.
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Another almost identical box, with attached headphones, was moved over the ground and a continual tone was emitted.
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The poor growers A and B showed almost identical increase.
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An almost identical necklace appears in Poynter's watercolour Helen, painted in 1887.
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In almost identical terms, constituency parties in the province and Britain have stepped up the pressure for a decisive Government move.
impossible
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Apart from being almost impossible to cut, second hand shop windows are usually of inferior quality.
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But analysts noted that without knowing the impact of the big merger, it was almost impossible to make an accurate projection.
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She tried to look past him, but it was almost impossible to see what or who was in the room beyond.
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Voice over Indeed the task is becoming almost impossible .
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The Worlds Edge Mountains are extremely tall and almost impossible to cross where they border the Empire.
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It had to proceed through persuasion and encouragement - a difficult process with public-sector bodies, but almost impossible with major companies.
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It was almost impossible to imagine Luke defeated and flattened.
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That is all very well in theory but almost impossible to achieve in practice.
■ VERB
become
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But it is extraordinary how one of those pianos prominently placed on stage almost becomes part of the action.
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In the United States eugenics became almost completely discredited.
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Facing Multiple Grief Sometimes the losses that we experience come so quickly one after the other that they become almost indistinguishable.
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Demonstrating my attractiveness to a young intelligent woman in competition with young attractive males had become almost an obsession of mine.
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It will give that tight West Coast strum with the bass strings becoming almost percussive.
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He became almost quaintly obsolete, like the handle crank on the automobile.
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Taping your own sound effects is another interesting part of video movie making: it can become almost a hobby in itself.
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The lack of evidence of violence in the Neolithic period is so complete it becomes almost hard to believe.
fall
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The rain fell almost horizontally, its bite as sharp as darts.
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He stumbled on it, almost fell , then picked up the front of it and hustled after his friends.
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He would wear a pair of shoes until they almost fell apart.
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Carolyn rushed out, almost falling down a flight of stone steps.
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When she finally met Lisa, she almost fell over.
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Cardiff staggered and almost fell back against Barbara.
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Intuit Inc. shares posted the largest decline in the index, falling almost 17 percent this week.
feel
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He smiled at her, trying to look comforting; he was feeling almost as tearful himself.
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I can almost feel the blazing sun, the blinding white beaches, although they are not in the picture.
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I almost feel I've been sent here so they can teach me a lesson about life.
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Why, then, this dark hint of dread, the first I have felt almost since I remember skiing?
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Several times she felt almost caught up with the constant demands for her attention.
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One can almost feel the discomfort such syncretic attitudes created in Longobardi.
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In a strange way I felt almost embarrassed that such things were happening in my name.
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She can cook for hours and feel almost complacent, she says.
seem
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It seemed almost to speak to her.
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There is a final item in the cascade of causes and consequences, a retribution for pollution that seems almost biblically apt.
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Beside this, Britain's outbreaks of sleaze seem almost quaint.
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Even so, it seemed almost too easy.
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Everything, in fact, which it seemed almost impossible to find in one place in the City before.
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The villain is an investor who kills with such glee that he almost seems corny.
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It seemed almost impossible to many people that such tiny things as micro-organisms could have been fossilised at all.
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It seems almost eerie that something so stunning can be so silent.
PHRASES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
I nearly/almost fainted
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She wrote: I almost fainted when I read your letter, confronted by that terrible mistake I had made.
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These were removed and - oh, sweet Lord, I nearly fainted !
sb nearly/almost fell off their chair
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
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Are we almost there?
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I'm almost finished.
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It's an almost impossible task.
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The wines are almost as expensive as champagne.
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We stayed at Grandma's for almost a week.
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
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Early in the evening it will be almost directly overhead.
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It almost seems like a mob.
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It is calculated in almost exactly the same way.
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The crowd of almost 2, 700 cheers loudly.
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The stars looked almost the same here as they did on the other side of the world.
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The treatment of engineering dynamics is almost invariably linear, although examples of simple non-linear formulations are provided.
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The Western Electric system was thoroughly thought out, with a performance exceeding acoustic cutters by two-and-a-half octaves and almost unlimited amplification.
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Then, almost magically, as she realised this, something stirred inside her and that something was excitement and courage.