I. noun
COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES
a crick in your back/neck
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He was getting a crick in his neck from leaning out of the window for so long.
cowl neck
craned his neck
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He craned his neck above the crowd to get a better view.
crew neck
knee/neck/hip/elbow etc joint
▪
a permanently damaged knee joint
neck/back/knee brace (= a brace that supports the neck etc )
▪
He was being fitted for a back brace.
paralysed from the neck/chest/waist down
polo neck
▪
a polo-neck sweater
put yourself/your neck on the line (for sb) (= risk something bad happening to you )
▪
I’ve already put myself on the line for you once, and I’m not going to do it again.
risk...neck (= risk my life )
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I’m not going to risk my neck just to save a common criminal.
scoop neck
stiff neck/back/joint etc
▪
Alastair woke with a stiff neck.
the...nape of...neck
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the soft warm nape of her neck
COLLOCATIONS FROM CORPUS
■ ADJECTIVE
long
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The ostrich, anxious to join in the fun again, craned his long neck well forward over the boundary fence.
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The older woman had a lean face, a long neck , and an aquiline nose.
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Show your legs at every opportunity Or your upper arms, your long neck or be taken in by fashion.
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I held Ellie in my peripheral vision, watching her long neck and the swell of her chest from across the room.
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Her oval face with its large dark eyes and high forehead was set on a long , graceful neck .
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Her Dose is slender, aquiline, her long neck elegant, chin delicate.
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Use the remaining marzipan to model a head with a long neck .
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I stare at them and see her beautiful body, her long , slender neck and arms.
open
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It had been split open from neck to crotch.
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He was wearing an open neck designer type long sleeve shirt and dark trousers.
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Her silk blouse is open at the neck , showing two strands of pearls.
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There was no tie, but a dark red silk scarf was tucked into the open neck of the shirt.
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Above the open neck of his white cotton shirt, a few dark hairs curled.
round
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Design: round neck , long sleeve top and long johns, women's and men's designs available.
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With its pretty round neck , softly padded shoulders and front-pocket detail, it looks great worn with a skirt or trousers.
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A simple round neck style with wrist length sleeves it makes the perfect foil for a favourite scarf or piece of jewellery.
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A Crêpe-de-chine T-Top blouse with cap sleeves and a round neck bound in self cloth.
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For a round neck , join one shoulder seam before estimating.
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For a round neck , the band can be single or double thickness but a V-neck band can only be single thickness.
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She had tried to soften the effect of long sleeves and a high round neck with a pair of pearl stud earrings.
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Knit two rows and bind off for a round neck or cast off for a V-neck.
stiff
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The stiff neck is a way of controlling feeling as are the rigid shoulders and the pulled-in gut.
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Rarely, a subarachnoid bleed can present with high fever, stiff neck , and headache masquerading as meningitis.
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Sore throat with swollen glands and a stiff neck .
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In the morning he woke up with a painful stiff neck .
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A stiff neck for a few weeks after a bump was tolerated in the past.
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Can you watch television without getting a stiff neck ?
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She was suffering from a stiff neck which gave her pain whenever she turned her head.
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Other signs of tension and fear are a tight mouth, stiff neck , and flared nostrils.
■ NOUN
injury
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Several congressmen went home with black eyes and serious neck injuries .
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Lancashire will make a late fitness check on Orrell hooker Neil Hitchen, who is recovering from a neck injury .
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Those taken to hospital were suffering from neck injuries caused by whiplash.
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Mr Quinn, 55, suffered 33 rib fractures, serious damage to internal organs and severe head and neck injuries .
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The lorry driver suffered serious leg and neck injuries .
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Pilot Stephen Grey was unhurt apart from a minor neck injury which hospitalised him for a short period.
maple
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A neat touch is the central laminate of the maple necks .
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The maple neck has 22 frets inlaid in a rosewood fingerboard.
muscle
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At the same time she could feel her neck muscles being strained.
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Surgical therapy has been attempted by section of various neck muscles or the accessory nerve.
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Gosse had been watching all in silence, his jaw clenched, his neck muscles taut.
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Tony smiled and without moving his left knee dodged the blows, his torso jinking, neck muscles popping.
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Francesca's neck muscles tensed every time she took a breath and her nostrils dilated.
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The high rate of acceleration strained her neck muscles .
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This exercise relaxes the neck muscles and relieves tension.
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We stood there a long time watching, heads tipped back, neck muscles beginning to ache.
■ VERB
break
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Diane 37 broke her neck in a fall from a horse and it was feared she might never walk again.
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The star of nearly 400 Western movies lay dead of a broken neck .
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This was where Jackson's enemies needed to break the neck of his campaign.
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I thought I was going to break my neck before I ever hit the ground.
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Tolby said nothing about Arabella because Lorton threatened to break his neck if he did.
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He yelled at us when we ran downstairs, believing we would fall and break our necks and die on the landing.
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Eventually, Lennie's strength becomes too much for him, and he breaks a woman's neck accidentally.
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Then 4 seasons ago, he broke his neck in a club game.
breathe
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As they rounded the last corner the leaders had the main field breathing down their necks .
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At last Nahat was up against the backdrop with the spotlight breathing down his neck .
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It was a troubled film, directed by Sam Peckinpah who constantly had the Columbia Studio brass breathing down his neck .
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To have some one breathing down your neck in your senior year is not a happy prospect.
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I've got Rawlinson breathing down my neck already, as well as brigade orders every day.
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Some of us need bosses and editors breathing fire down our necks .
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Labour and the Liberal Democrats are breathing down his neck .
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To shoot birdies like that with Nicklaus breathing down your neck - - twice!
crane
▪
The ostrich, anxious to join in the fun again, craned his long neck well forward over the boundary fence.
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By craning his neck , Gao Yang caught a glimpse of sky through a fork in the branches.
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The rest of the audience cranes its collective neck to spot the guilty party.
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A boy pushed his head through the opening and craned his neck to see into the room.
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A small crowd had gathered, craning their necks towards David, and muttering.
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I say, craning my neck from the corner.
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They stood in a tight bunch and craned their necks to see what was causing the commotion.
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Grover craned his solid neck up, then down.
hang
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A jade-green pendant on a chain was hanging around her neck .
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It comes with a gold medal that kids can hang around their necks .
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They shuffled forward in a dazed manner holding hands, their labels hanging round their necks .
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From time to time, she fingered the heart pendant and religious medallion that now hang around her neck .
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Harrison didn't exactly avoid us, but he made it clear that we were not to hang around his neck .
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Rincewind looked down at the iconograph, still hanging around his neck .
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I certainly don't want you hanging around my neck , if that's what's worrying you.
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But don't underestimate the impact of the sartorial noose that hangs around your neck .
hung
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His badge of office, a large gold key, hung round his neck on a silk ribbon.
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The deer had cooled and now hung disrobed, its neck taught, snout averted as though having heard its name.
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She wore a flowered smock, and her spectacles hung round her neck on a cord.
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Her spectacles still hung from her neck .
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When I climbed the magnolia I'd hung it round my neck for safety.
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It hung from my neck secured by a length of dressing-gown cord.
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Every morning the monocle is hung round my neck and remains there until bedtime.
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Her hand strayed to the key that hung around her neck .
kiss
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He murmured small endearments as he kissed her neck and nuzzled her ears.
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For Norricker walked behind her and kissed her on the neck and shoulders.
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I let him loosen my tie and kiss my neck .
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After emerging from customs he dropped his bags, took his woman by the waist and hungrily kissed her mouth and neck .
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Jay penned her in, one hand on each arm rest and kissed her neck .
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She kissed him on the neck .
risk
▪
It is years since I risked my neck .
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On another occasion Moore, notoriously edgy about risking his neck , had to film with crocodiles in the Everglades.
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With prize money declining, he laments that most of the time jump jockeys risk their necks for £150.
save
▪
We then make the necessary economies and redundancies in their company, and save Sarah Chester's neck .
▪
Did he give it to save his own neck ?
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The coward choked out that you were still alive and hadn't been harmed, but it didn't save his neck .
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That I tell lies, Fran, to save my neck ?
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I find that totally objectionable from a Government who are shaping up to borrow and spend to save their necks .
stick
▪
You don't have to stick your neck out in meetings.
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The experts avoid sticking their own necks out.
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He'd stuck his neck out all right, but not as much as he'd led Holman to believe.
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She listened to his ideas, had even stuck her neck out to champion some of his more radical plans.
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And many economists are reluctant to stick their necks out.
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Let Bixby stick his neck out for once, he thought as he stared wearily at his folded hands.
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So I have decided to stick my neck out and to make some predictions for the next 30 years.
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I want to stick my neck out and help her.
stretch
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People before have stretched their necks towards them, like you, wonder-gazing children not able to sleep.
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His smallest robot is bigger than a man; the largest is two-stories high when it stretches its neck .
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When the man stepped back he trotted, stretching his neck to the ground.
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The chickens were walking around loose, stretching out their necks , pulling them back.
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Habit of appearing to stand on tiptoe, stretching the neck .
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Some held their chins high, stretching necks , their expressions agonized, like martyrs in paintings.
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As it is, I've stretched my neck out by ordering a full alert in the West Country.
tie
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I took the self-belt off the tunic and tied it around my neck in an exotic knot.
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It seemed to be tied to his neck .
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It was supplied in plastic bags, carefully wrapped up and tied at the neck with string.
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The noose was tied around his neck and strung over the beam.
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One end of a string was tied around the neck of each mouse and the other end to the truck.
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A red silk scarf was tied around the bloated neck .
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Or how about the model with four pastel fuzzy sweaters tied around neck , torso and waist?
wear
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When big round collars came in these were worn outside the neck .
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She attached a cord and started wearing them around her neck .
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Some of them had plaited scraps of cloth in their long black hair and all wore beads around their necks .
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You know the pendant she always wears round her neck , shaped like a heart?
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He wore round his neck a scrimshaw on a silver chain.
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He was wearing an open neck designer type long sleeve shirt and dark trousers.
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The Fellowship wore medallions around their necks .
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I have never worn Chunni over my head so I just wore it round my neck .
wring
▪
No wonder he looked as if he wanted to wring her neck .
▪
Alma was strong enough to continue wringing the live necks herself.
PHRASES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
I'll wring sb's neck
▪
When Dean gets home, I'm going to wring his neck.
a millstone round/around sb's neck
▪
This particular heritage may be a millstone around the neck of scientific natural history.
an albatross (around your neck)
▪
The project became a financial albatross for the city.
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But what began as an enlightened innovation has become an albatross around the neck of the free enterprise system.
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Their wingspan exceeds that of an albatross .
be a pain (in the neck)
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Carla can be a pain sometimes, but she's been a good friend to me.
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Everyone thinks he's a pain in the neck.
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It's such a pain to have to drive downtown.
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Little brothers are such a pain in the neck!
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I hate the IVs, they hurt and are a pain .
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I imagined myself traveling the world, giving succor wherever there was pain and suffering.
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Instead all she could feel was pain .
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Just the starting it is a pain and the tipping it to get it started is a pain.
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She felt her strength returning, but there was pain in her eyes, chest and throat.
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When I entered it, I was pained with the cold.
be breathing down sb's neck
▪
I'm already really busy today, and now Paul's breathing down my neck saying he wants the Paris deal completed.
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I can't work with you breathing down my neck.
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We'd better start sending out those letters soon -- I've had the sales manager breathing down my neck about it all week.
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He would be breathing down your neck all the time.
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Labour and the Liberal Democrats are breathing down his neck.
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Maybe the Assistant Commissioner's wife was breathing down Maxham's neck.
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The staff is breathing down your neck.
by the scruff of the neck
▪
It just caught me by the scruff of the neck and practically hammered my guts out.
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One had hold of the other by the scruff of the neck and had fetched blood.
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Three were dragged back on to the train and taken by the scruff of the neck from station to police car.
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Your eyes narrow against the claws gripping you by the scruff of the neck until you let your hook of anger go.
put your head/neck on the block
rick your back/neck
save sb's skin/neck/bacon
stick your neck out
▪
Look, I'll stick my neck out and say it'll be finished by tomorrow evening.
▪
The evidence is good, but I won't stick my neck out until all the data is in.
▪
And many economists are reluctant to stick their necks out.
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He'd stuck his neck out all right, but not as much as he'd led Holman to believe.
▪
I want to stick my neck out and help her.
▪
It was a place for people who wanted to stick their necks out.
▪
Let Bixby stick his neck out for once, he thought as he stared wearily at his folded hands.
▪
She listened to his ideas, had even stuck her neck out to champion some of his more radical plans.
▪
So I have decided to stick my neck out and to make some predictions for the next 30 years.
▪
You don't have to stick your neck out in meetings.
wring sth's neck
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
▪
Bud wrapped a scarf around his neck .
▪
My neck is so sore.
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The neck 's too low on this shirt.
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
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Butcher Tom picked her up, and I could see that her neck was broken.
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Fairly large, long-necked, long-legged wading birds, habitually flying with neck outstretched: a useful distinction from herons.
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Fifi and Carmencita watched while Mundin unwrapped the snake from around his neck and poked one end at his little sister.
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If the resultant hollow in the neck is really severe it might require a form of heat treatment to rectify the situation.
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The neck is made from maple, which was a surprise, because I was expecting mahogany.
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Then you start fanning your tail feathers and puffing your neck in and out.
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We chat about the lumbering, and the latest antics at Mount Blue, in my neck of the woods.
II. verb
PHRASES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
a millstone round/around sb's neck
▪
This particular heritage may be a millstone around the neck of scientific natural history.
an albatross (around your neck)
▪
The project became a financial albatross for the city.
▪
But what began as an enlightened innovation has become an albatross around the neck of the free enterprise system.
▪
Their wingspan exceeds that of an albatross .
be a pain (in the neck)
▪
Carla can be a pain sometimes, but she's been a good friend to me.
▪
Everyone thinks he's a pain in the neck.
▪
It's such a pain to have to drive downtown.
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Little brothers are such a pain in the neck!
▪
I hate the IVs, they hurt and are a pain .
▪
I imagined myself traveling the world, giving succor wherever there was pain and suffering.
▪
Instead all she could feel was pain .
▪
Just the starting it is a pain and the tipping it to get it started is a pain.
▪
She felt her strength returning, but there was pain in her eyes, chest and throat.
▪
When I entered it, I was pained with the cold.
by the scruff of the neck
▪
It just caught me by the scruff of the neck and practically hammered my guts out.
▪
One had hold of the other by the scruff of the neck and had fetched blood.
▪
Three were dragged back on to the train and taken by the scruff of the neck from station to police car.
▪
Your eyes narrow against the claws gripping you by the scruff of the neck until you let your hook of anger go.
put your head/neck on the block
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
▪
Jemma found her friends necking in the back of the car.
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
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He reverted to the stage of church camp necking.
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On these drives, they usually end up parking somewhere, only to neck and stuff, according to Fifi.
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Samantha starts necking Bob, and then starts necking me.
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The two kids stayed by the doors, necking.
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They went out in the backyard and necked with us.
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We started necking on the sofa, and she undressed, and suggested the bedroom.