BELIEVE


Meaning of BELIEVE in English

verb

COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES

believe a lie

How could you believe his lies?

believe a myth

People still believe the myth that money will bring them happiness.

believe a story

The jury did not believe Evans's story.

believe in an ideal

We believe in the ideal of justice for all.

believe in God

Do you believe in God?

believe in miracles

Do you believe in miracles?

believe this/that nonsense

Don’t tell me you believe all this nonsense about ghosts!

believe/accept an excuse

She didn’t believe his excuse for one minute.

can’t believe your luck

I couldn’t believe my luck as my number was called out!

experts believe sth

Legal experts believe that the evidence will not be accepted in court.

had to be seen to be believed (= you would not believe it if you did not see it yourself )

The accommodation was so awful it had to be seen to be believed .

it is hard to believe/imagine/see/know etc

It was hard to see what else we could have done.

It’s hard to believe that anyone would say something like that.

lead sb to believe/expect/understand sth

He had led everyone to believe that his family was very wealthy.

The hotel was terrible, and not at all what we had been led to expect.

mislead sb into believing/thinking etc sth

Don’t be misled into thinking that scientific research is easy.

popularly believed/thought/called etc

Vitamin C is popularly believed to prevent colds.

COLLOCATIONS FROM CORPUS

■ ADVERB

firmly

For Mr Crump, Trust, he would say and firmly believe , was the foundation of his business and his life.

And that, I firmly believe , is our purpose in life.

He firmly believed this was the only sensible course to pursue.

I believe firmly in the integrity of ingredients and the virtue of seeking the highest quality.

Therefore I firmly believe that there is a place for netting on into the future.

I firmly believe in the cooperative ethic, I talk about it a lot.

I firmly believe that it would be impossible to deliver that objective, even had we wanted it.

He firmly believes music should elevate and inspire its listeners, not lull and numb them.

hardly

I could hardly believe what I heard.

He who is proclaimed a saint need hardly believe in sainthood.

Jenking and Faulknor could hardly believe that it was possible to have such a difference from either side of the ship.

Jezrael could hardly believe such extravagance.

I could hardly believe my eyes.

in

But one conclusion from that observation is that the theists themselves have no idea what they believe in .

She smiled and went right on believing in herself and in her frail body.

You're less likely to be criticised for what you really believe in .

I believe in passing on hope, not despair.

Yet they were doing what they believed in .

But the war was hard to believe in , and nowhere to be seen.

He heard Maisie's voice once more: What do you believe in ?

Why settle for mediocre goals when you could achieve something really wonderful? Believe in yourself!

really

I might really believe that smoking cigarettes does me no harm.

But I really believe everybody is going to step up.

Mr. Leigh I do not think that the hon. Lady really believes all that.

And who really believes that there is no lobbying problem at the Capitol?

Perhaps they did not really believe in them - or did they?

Funny, but this time I really believe it.

Does the public really believe these stories are spilled willingly over friendly cups of tea?

If Coach, if Mr Lewis, really believed I could do this...

still

Such action, I believed - and still believe - would have played into the hands of my enemies.

Many traders and economists still believe the dollar is likely to head higher in the medium term.

Men as a rule are very selfish and still believe that women are born to serve them.

I still believed Jasper would live.

I still believe we were right, but don't stand too near to me - just in case.

As for me, I still believe in trees.

Most agents at headquarters still believed he would be fully operable once his parallel systems booted up and stopped the repetition.

widely

They doubt that Caravaggio was even homosexual, as is widely believed .

It was widely believed that he had been fired by the Board of Higher Education.

It was widely believed that had Mr Dempsey not announced his resignation he would have been forced to step down.

He was widely believed in the Arab world.

No one attempted to rescue him because it was widely believed that Farini had concocted the entire accident.

Today it is widely believed that the dream of escape can come true at last.

Political observers widely believe Perot is backing the Reform Party as a vehicle that would allow him to seek the presidency again.

■ NOUN

luck

I couldn't believe my luck .

They believe it is bad luck .

I sometimes could not believe my good luck , and was grateful for it.

I believed it brought me luck .

Hargreaves couldn't believe his luck when G.G. MacPhee reliably informed him it hadn't been climbed.

Impoverished Ojani Noa couldn't believe his luck .

Sally-Anne could not believe her luck !

She couldn't believe her luck .

people

Many people believe that they help emotional and psychological symptoms; they are available from some chemists and health food shops.

The people believed , and many of them were putting money into improving their homes, modernizing their small businesses.

In New York, police estimated that 4,700,000 people watched what was believed to be the largest-ever ticker-tape parade.

Many fat people believe that just meeting Richard Simmons in person is enough to motivate them enough to become thin.

At least 6 people are believed to have been killed.

When they began appearing all over town, people began believing he could win.

Many people in Orkney believed he was succeeding - until the morning of 27 February 1991.

A recent poll found that more young people believe in UFOs than believe Social Security will exist when they retire.

police

The diplomat told police he believed that his brakes failed.

West Mercia Police believe they now have one of the world's most sophisticated centres for training armed officers.

Close to the tree was a shattered tumbler, which police believe Elizabeth used to try to defend herself.

Colin Richardson, Mrs Godwin's neighbour, says Police believe the motive for the murders was robbery.

The police believe magistrates are under pressure to grant bail, even when officers advise them it could be dangerous.

Here thieves removed a picture from the wall and police believe they then walked out with it hidden under a long raincoat.

He was seen in the city at around 5.30am yesterday. Police believe he could have taken the train from Lime Street.

reason

There are good family economic reasons for believing that fertility will not become high.

Is there reason to believe some-thing will be different this time than in years gone by?

She has no reason to believe that it was anything other than an accident.

And there is little reason to believe that the gray matter inside the skull changed much, either.

There is, then, no reason to believe Freemantle when she claims to have had little interest in poetry.

Thus, Chirac had good reasons to believe that his majority in the National Assembly would lose the elections scheduled for 1998.

If the arrivals of comets in the inner Solar System were totally haphazard we would have little reason to believe such ideas.

But, for the first time, there is reason to believe that this is over.

■ VERB

can

Your son-in-law and his boss may have taken this precaution, but can his wife believe his word?

He is not short. Can you believe that such perfection is mere happenstance?

lead

We are led to believe that there are administrative problems.

All of which might lead you to believe they were rather learned, charitable folk.

He did not see any of the prisoners but was led to believe they were still inside.

I had led him to believe that he was not so much a servant as a comrade.

He is leading us to believe that the information will never be provided.

Contrary to what some Democrats would lead you to believe , U. S. Sen.

Museum officials, however, claim they were led to believe that Portland stone would be used.

She was older than first glance had led Christina to believe .

PHRASES FROM OTHER ENTRIES

I'd like to think/believe (that)

I'd like to believe that he's telling the truth.

I'd like to think I know a little about airplanes.

But I 'd like to think that gallantry isn't dead.

Dad and I clashed more than I 'd like to think about.

I 'd like to think Beardsley and Wright will get the nod and Graham doesn't get it wrong again.

I 'd like to think that it does have some meaning.

It is a novelty record in some respects, although I 'd like to think it's a lot deeper than that too.

Perhaps it wasn't very subtle, but I 'd like to think it was funny.

be inclined to agree/think/believe etc

After reading this book, you might be inclined to think so.

Before then, we are inclined to believe only hip jazz musicians and self-destructive beat poets did dope.

I am inclined to believe the police.

Or did he, as some are inclined to think, actually invent it?

Some conservative politicians were inclined to agree.

Still, when he makes a statement such as you refer to, I would be inclined to believe him.

We are inclined to think of connections between earlier and later events rather than connections between simultaneous events.

You are inclined to agree with their judgement.

fondly imagine/believe/hope etc

Some people fondly believe that chess-playing computers work by internally trying out all possible combinations of chess moves.

Some Tories fondly imagine that privatisation will eliminate the need to subsidise the railways.

The Gombe rainforest is not the sort of Eden we might fondly imagine.

give sb to understand/think/believe sth

A parting sniff as she left the room gave the gentleman to understand that he had disappointed her.

But he had also given her time to think what she was doing.

But the knotted tensions between people and groups of people give us plenty to think about.

He would have given anything to believe that Isambard was lying.

Ireland would be given something new to think about.

It obviously gave him plenty to think about.

She'd given more time to thinking about Lucy than anything else for months.

make believe

Right, kids. We don't have any proper cowboy hats so you'll have to make believe.

She's not really a queen -- it's only make-believe .

The two little girls used to make believe that they were princesses.

You can't go on making believe that nothing is wrong.

For two hours, they're packed together as the Hercules fly low above the make believe battle zone.

If somebody gives you something to read, you make believe you read it...

Or l would make believe he owed me money.

She made believe that they were as happy together as they should be, and was careful to weep only in secret.

The make believe world of Disney is a truly magical experience that knows no age barriers.

You seem to think that it's all a game, a make believe.

not believe/think/do sth for a/one moment

His hand had not wavered for a moment .

His leader did not believe for one moment the protestations of innocence.

I do not concede for a moment that this is a devolution measure.

I would not suggest for one moment that they existed here.

Neither team will half-step, not even for a moment .

not hear/understand/believe a word

Do not believe a word of it.

For the rest of the journey Maria prattled on about Bradford, but Ruth did not hear a word .

However, it also shows that they are not very useful, for Hera did not believe a word of it.

I kept it up until I was certain you were not hearing a word .

To date I've not heard word one about such a plague in the Czech Republic.

We had not heard a word about my father all this time.

not think/believe etc for one minute

sb can be forgiven for thinking/believing/feeling etc sth

EXAMPLES FROM OTHER ENTRIES

Both sides firmly believe that a peace settlement is now possible.

Did the police believe his story?

I asked them for a $10,000 loan, and believe it or not they said yes.

I firmly believe that we are responsible for what happens to us in our lives.

I had always believed Catherine to be absolutely honest in money matters.

I told them I didn't do it, but no one believed me.

Only those who believe will go to heaven.

People used to believe that the sun moved around the earth.

Police believe that the money was stolen by a gang of youths.

Students weren't sure who to believe .

The party believes strongly that health care should be provided for everyone.

We believe human rights are more important than economic considerations.

You can't believe everything you read in the papers.

EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS

But people like Shakiri do not believe there can be a peaceful solution to the crisis.

Disney executives believe the porcelain models will become another lucrative spin off for their cartoon empire.

Labour still believes that it has a better story about its own plans for improving public services than the Tories.

Some experts believe that adrenaline provides the body with the extra boost it needs to make up for lost sleep.

The suit was settled last month, days before former Crypto engineers were to testify that they believed the machines were altered.

Well, he was not what Shula believed him to be.

Longman DOCE5 Extras English vocabulary.      Дополнительный английский словарь Longman DOCE5.