I. noun
COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES
a glint/hint of mischief (= an expression that shows someone wants to play tricks )
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There was a glint of mischief in her eyes.
a hint/trace of amusement (= a small amount in someone's eyes or voice )
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Was there a hint of amusement in her voice?
a hint/trace of an accent
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I could detect the hint of a German accent in her voice.
a hint/trace/flicker of emotion (= a very small sign that someone feels an emotion )
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I thought I saw a flicker of emotion in his eyes.
a hint/whiff of scandal (= the suggestion that someone may be involved in a scandal )
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He vowed that no hint of scandal would ever be attached to him.
a whiff/hint of perfume (= a very slight smell of perfume )
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As she lifted the letter, she caught the faintest hint of perfume.
helpful advice/hints/suggestions etc
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Our sales staff are there to give you helpful advice.
hint/trace/edge/touch of sarcasm
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There was just a touch of sarcasm in her voice.
subtle hint
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The dish had a subtle hint of ginger.
trace/hint/touch of irony
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Wagner calls his program ‘the worst talk show in America,’ without a hint of irony.
COLLOCATIONS FROM CORPUS
■ ADJECTIVE
handy
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Readers with humorous computing tales or handy hints are welcome to write to Fatal Dos Error at the usual address.
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None of them ever enlivened maths lessons with a few handy hints about alternative sexuality.
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Here to get you started are a few ... Practical pointers and handy hints 1 Think about your class and year group.
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Practical pointers and handy hints 1 Don't feel a failure if you've never had a boyfriend or girlfriend.
heavy
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Despite my misgivings, I dropped heavy hints at home.
helpful
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Do we ever see articles or helpful hints aimed at us?
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Beyond these guidelines, there are plenty of helpful hints to keep you on a low-fat track.
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The lads, as always, were on the phone all week with helpful hints .
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They were extremely receptive to the helpful hints offered by advice magazines, which were proliferating at the time.
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An instruction book is included in the box, with helpful hints and suggestions for projects.
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They actually like having a bloke in the passenger seat offering helpful hints at the top of his voice?
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This newspaper contains many helpful hints on job seeking as well as lots of varied and interesting job vacancies.
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Here, instead are some helpful hints: 1.
little
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There is little or no hint of the compassion and humanity which lay beneath the cool exterior.
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There are no laughs in Little Altars Everywhere, nothing picturesque, and very little hint that sisterhood cures all.
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But today there is little hint of Allison's old Champagne Charlie image.
merest
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You only need type the merest hint of innuendo into a search engine to come face to face with a porno advert.
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He was shirtless, had the merest hint of a moustache and smiled easily.
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The weather was warm and sunny, with the merest hint of a breeze.
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There was the merest hint of vulnerability in the urgency of his need for her.
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And about the closed lips is the merest hint of a Mona Lisa smile.
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Yet it is the merest hint of hope in a story of otherwise unbroken tragedy.
slight
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The slightest hint of trouble over the weekend brought a massive response from fleets of police cars.
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Crisp, without the slightest hint of being greasy, it both crunches and melts in your mouth.
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At the slightest hint of sloth, cross them off your list.
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The slightest hint of militancy was enough to bar a group from being funded.
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She searched his face for just the slightest hint that there might be the chance of some give in his rigidity.
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But Gordon answered that one, too, betraying only the slightest hint of impatience.
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But that does not breed the slightest hint of complacency as the 31-year-old Ballinascreen clubman prepares for the All Ireland final.
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It tasted yeasty, with a slight hint of effervescence, and began almost instantly to produce a slow easing of inhibitions.
subtle
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It can be anything from a rich and succulent casserole to a stir fry recipe with a subtle hint of the Orient.
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He was apparently out of favor with the judges, some of whom had dropped subtle hints that Galindo should move on.
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My subtle and not-so-subtle hints to the neighbor did not seem to produce results.
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Pictorial representations of women can carry all kinds of subtle hints and messages, can indeed convey a whole world-view of meaning.
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And, despite numerous subtle hints - like hiding his desk and computer - he still won't leave us alone.
useful
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This exciting volume is packed with useful hints such as these.
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Even organizers of interlaboratory comparisons will find here useful hints for their evaluation strategy.
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The third screen gives some useful hints and tips for searching the database.
vague
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The brain drifts back to full consciousness now that there is a vague hint of light spreading across the eastern sky.
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What we have are some rather vague hints in later sources.
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Homemade pizzas often lack even a vague hint of authenticity.
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Vincent had up to then only given vague hints about his relationship with Sien.
■ VERB
drop
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They managed to see Maeda who dropped hints and told them to be circumspect.
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He was apparently out of favor with the judges, some of whom had dropped subtle hints that Galindo should move on.
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Little by little he dropped hints , but no details.
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Occasionally he dropped hints on this matter to Gina.
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Despite my misgivings, I dropped heavy hints at home.
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But sometimes, the trash drops a hint to a waiter.
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He assured me he hadn't mentioned the glass to anyone, hadn't dropped any hints .
give
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It therefore gives little hint of what makes its author so extraordinary a figure.
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A good reporter, given a mere hint of the existence of a story, will pursue it to the end.
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After a spell of this, during which he gave no hint of moving, Rain decided to escape.
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But he has given no hint he views a race in 2000 any more favorably than in 1996.
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Dana had given no hint of where they were going.
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As of Wednesday, the doctors were giving no hint of when Camby could return to the top-ranked Minutemen.
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Let me give you a hint .
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Earlier writers had given hints of the rewards that lay in store for those who followed this intellectual path.
offer
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They actually like having a bloke in the passenger seat offering helpful hints at the top of his voice?
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Usually more flavorful than red bell peppers, pimientos offer a hint of heat.
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The Olympic trials could also offer a hint of things to come.
provide
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Specific attention is given to providing advice or hints and tips in addressing problems, especially for instrument operation.
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The settlement of the barbarians was plainly varied, and our sources provide only a hint of its complexities.
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This book provides some hint of insight into his quest of self-discovery.
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The Dennis case in the United States provides us with a hint as to how departures from constitutional principle may be explained.
show
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He has behaved wilfully and erratically, and shows no hint of getting a grip on the country's problems.
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That would show at least a hint of what the flow it-self looked like.
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Writers were pleased that the group showed no hint of compromise but lamented on the record's lack of pop muscle.
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Had it shown even a hint of success, the insecticide surely would have been applied wholesale.
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Can you imagine a male presenter wearing peek-a-boo boxer shorts showing more than a hint of his you-know-what?
take
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Why not simply take the hint and turn his back on the village once and for all?
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So he picked him up and took hint off the rubber runner and set him down on the sidewalk.
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He wouldn't take the hint , though.
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Miguel was never very good at taking hints .
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The next day he accompanied Baldwin back to London, and upon arrival took hint to his house in Westminster.
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Feffer in the furious whirling of his spirit took hint for a fixed point.
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If she couldn't take hints he would tell her he had somebody else.
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James didn't seem disposed to take the hint .
PHRASES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
broad hint
drop a hint
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I've dropped a few hints about what I want for my birthday.
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My mother dropped several hints about us wallpapering her sitting room.
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She kept dropping hints about her birthday, just to make sure none of us forgot about it.
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But sometimes, the trash drops a hint to a waiter.
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Little by little he dropped hints, but no details.
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Occasionally he dropped hints on this matter to Gina.
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They managed to see Maeda who dropped hints and told them to be circumspect.
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
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a wine that tastes of blackcurrants with just a hint of vanilla
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His comments were a clear hint that tax rises might be necessary.
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You might notice a hint of brandy in the sauce.
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
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After all, if you happened to be next him after dinner for ten minutes, he would get invaluable hints.
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For young women in particular, the message conveyed is that of elegance, poise, and perhaps a hint of luxury.
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She spoke amiably, yet with the least hint of dismissal in her voice.
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She wears anachronistic styles as though they were the latest fashion, with no hint of nostalgia.
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Sometimes other hints of friendship between men from different elements of the connection survive.
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Teacher's notes give practical hints on developing reading skills, together with ideas for implementing play-reading in class.
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Their outward appearance gives no hint as to the wealth of amazing finds that have come from local beaches in the past.
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There were hints before the local elections, rumours of some sort of relaunch of the Left.
II. verb
PHRASES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
broad hint
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
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Harry hinted that his friendship with Mona might have contributed to his marriage break-up.
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The President hinted at the possibility of military action.
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
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As Ehrlich hints, wild life resembles that strange loop of the Uroborus biting its tail, consuming itself.
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But abortion-rights elements of the party hinted they may still try to amend or delete the abortion language.
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Nadine had been unable to tell her exactly but had done a good deal of hinting.
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Part of his input is to hint at new things I might write.
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Past the strategies, how can the joys of reading and writing be even hinted at in the Basics Skills For ever classroom?
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Republicans hinted at a willingness to shave their net tax cuts to about $ 177 billion over seven years.
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Simon and John hinted that he was preoccupied, but in fan he was downright bloody rude, and everybody knew it.