I. adjective
COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES
highly unlikely/likely/improbable/probable
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It’s highly unlikely that the project will be finished on time.
the most likely/probable explanation (= one that is probably true )
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The most likely explanation is that John missed the bus.
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The most probable explanation is that the water was contaminated.
the probable/likely cause
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The probable cause of the fire was faulty wiring.
COLLOCATIONS FROM CORPUS
■ ADVERB
highly
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There is no record of Osbald's parentage but a Bernician extraction seems highly probable .
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But the generality and power can vary from the local and tentative to the universal and highly probable .
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It is highly probable that book provision and use will be a significant component in such inspections.
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It is highly probable that many of those in the initial cohort of patients would have died.
more
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Short gaps are thus more probable than long ones.
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That it makes the proposition for which it is offered more probable .
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A different principle of development - indeed, a reversal of the principle of increasing elaboration - seems more probable .
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It would be reasonable to accept any postulate that would make it more probable .
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It was held that the plaintiff had to show it was more probable than not that the injury was due to faulty manufacture.
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Even more probable than the extinction of humanity is a catastrophe that destroys our culture while leaving some humans still alive.
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Or else, which is more probable , the infection is particularly deadly to rabbits.
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Which of these two readings is more probable ?
most
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Battiness - premature senility of some sort - seemed the most probable explanation of the whole affair.
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The most probable to go is William VanLandingham, who has been so inconsistent with the Giants.
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Weld has left three in at the four day stage with Steel Chimes looking the most probable runner.
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The most probable reading is the second.
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A nearly zero value, however, will be by far the most probable .
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The most probable cause of the problem was the males being infertile.
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Grismore believes high-altitude nuclear tests are the most probable source of the radioactive specks.
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The probability of each parse was then calculated and the most probable parse selected.
quite
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It's quite probable that they did most of their courting in the cinema.
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It's quite probable that extensive cultivation here has erased any traces there may have been.
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It is quite probable that both IgE and enzyme deficiencies are important in causing the symptoms.
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Yet it is quite probable that she bears not a single one of the old king's genes.
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It is quite probable that religious symbolism was once exclusive to each particular faith.
very
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It is also very probable that the cognitive style which overinclusive and divergent thinking have in common is strongly inherited.
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It is very probable that Grey took some part in Leapor's subscription.
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In practice it is very probable that they do not.
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It is very probable that such differences do exist, and will be identified by suitable research work.
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This is most unlikely if the shares are listed but very probable if the company is a private one.
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But that something like this happened is very probable .
■ NOUN
cause
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The most probable cause of the problem was the males being infertile.
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The issue then was whether the Commonwealth had probable cause sufficient to justify those seizures.
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Makers Adam Leisure, of Harrogate, said the probable cause of the fire was a faulty plug socket or wiring.
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According to a probable cause affidavit, Tarver and his girlfriend began to fight over money.
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The probable cause in this child's case was a viral infection.
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But a federal judge ruled last May that probable cause existed to grant the extradition.
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Here the judge seemed to raise the bar in the test for probable cause .
consequence
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It was held that the accused was aware of the probable consequences of firing the gun as he did.
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The probable consequence is that doctors will be given the task.
outcome
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The most probable outcome is 100-150 deaths from thyroid cancer over the same period.
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
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It seems probable that the election will be held in May.
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Light rain is probable tomorrow evening.
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Measles is the probable cause of illness in the three athletes.
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The project will go ahead, at a probable cost of $2.1 million.
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The report states that the probable cause of death was a heart attack.
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Unless the government agrees to further talks, a strike seems highly probable .
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
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He openly talked of him as the probable successor to the see of Canterbury.
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If the measure passes the House, Senate approval is considered probable .
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It is probable that deliberate equivocation in respect of the intended sense of word forms is always to some extent odd.
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It is probable that in retrospect he gave that factor more weight than it carried at the time.
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It is very probable that Grey took some part in Leapor's subscription.
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It will give them crucial details about his shoe size and probable height and weight.
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She disposed quickly of red herrings, usually sought out the least probable suspect and rarely failed.
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There is no record of Osbald's parentage but a Bernician extraction seems highly probable .
II. noun
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
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Four further claims for Hurricanes were made by all 12 pilots of the 156° Gruppo jointly, two confirmed and two probables.