determiner
COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES
ask sb (for) their opinion ( also ask for sb’s opinion )
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We asked people for their opinions about the Olympics.
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Nobody asked my opinion.
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It’s a good idea to ask people for their opinions and suggestions.
bring sth/sb to their knees (= make it almost impossible for sb/sth to continue )
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A severe drought brought the country to its knees.
call sb by their first/full etc name (= use that name when you speak to them )
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Everyone called him by his first name.
chomp their way through
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British people chomp their way through more than a billion bars of chocolate every year.
cost lives/cost sb their life (= result in deaths/in someone’s death )
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That decision may have cost him his life.
deprive sb of their liberty (= take liberty away from someone )
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a prisoner who has been deprived of his liberty
drive sb up the wall/round the bend/out of their mind spoken informal (= make someone feel very annoyed )
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That voice of hers drives me up the wall.
everyone is entitled to their opinion (= used especially when politely disagreeing with what someone says )
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Of course everyone is entitled to their opinion, but I can't accept what he is saying.
give sb their deposit back
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When I left, the landlord refused to give me my deposit back.
give sb their money back ( also refund sb’s money ) (= give money back to a customer )
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We regret that we are unable to refund money on tickets.
give sth to sb for their birthday
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I never know what to give him for his birthday.
going about their business
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The villagers were going about their business as usual.
help sb with their homework
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I often have to help her with her homework.
hold sb to their promise (= make them keep it )
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The next day, Gareth held me to my promise to take him fishing.
in their eagerness
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People were pushing each other out of the way in their eagerness to get to the front.
in their hundreds/thousands etc (= in very large numbers )
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People flocked in their thousands to greet their new princess.
keep/put sb on their mettle
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This was just his way of keeping me on my mettle.
leave/abandon sb to their fate (= leave someone in a bad situation )
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The abandoned sailors were left to their fate on the island.
my/your/their etc generation
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I consider myself a typical Japanese woman of my generation.
of its/their kind
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It is the biggest centre of its kind.
sb’s heart rules their head (= someone makes decisions based on emotions rather than careful thought )
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He has never been one to let his heart rule his head.
show sb to their seat
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A flight attendant showed them to their seats.
take up an offer/take sb up on their offer British English (= accept someone's offer )
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I might take him up on his offer.
take up sb's invitation/take sb up on their invitation (= accept someone's invitation )
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I decided to take them up on their invitation to dinner.
wing its/their way to/across etc sth
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planes winging their way to exotic destinations
PHRASES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
beard sb (in their den)
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He is soft-spoken, bearded , with a friendly smile and an ability to laugh at himself.
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He was an awe-inspiring sight, his beard jutting out fiercely and his brow knotted in anger.
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It was an older man, with a beard .
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Often he would shave it off, but the next day he would have a beard just the same.
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Protest music made by men with beards for people with fuzzy minds and books in the glove compartments of their Morris Travellers.
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Some of their fathers wore beards .
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The provodnik, my jailer, showed a young bearded man into my compartment.
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With his grizzled beard and his peg-leg he looked like an extra from Treasure Island.
beat sb at their own game
beat/thrash etc sb to within an inch of their life
bring sb/sth to their knees
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The recession has brought many companies to their knees .
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He yelled for union solidarity to support the strike and to bring management to their knees , but to no avail.
catch sb with their pants/trousers down
cost sb their job/life/marriage etc
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And, for those who work in the travel and tourism industry, this tax could cost them their jobs.
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His plans to slash defence budgets by £6 billion would cost 100,000 more their jobs.
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I believe that it would cost many people their jobs and would cause far more damage than good.
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It could cost them their lives.
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The most far-reaching internal investigation in Phoenix police history cost four officers their jobs Friday for purchasing banned rifles under false pretenses.
do your/his/her/their worst
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Let her do her worst to reach him.
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Sometimes they successfully slowed or blocked the path of the conquistadores when these exploiters were out to do their worst .
each to his/their own
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Fathers should customize each to their own particular needs and situation.
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It is a case of each to his own cell with no slopping out.
everyone has their price
frighten/scare/terrify sb out of their wits
give sb a (good) run for their money
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Slosser gave Boyd a run for his money in the 1996 GOP primary.
give sb a dose/taste of their own medicine
give sb their head
give sb their walking papers
have sth at your/their etc fingertips
in its/their entirety
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The speech will published in its entirety in tomorrow's paper.
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He withdrew it when it was agreed to omit the paragraph in its entirety .
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It is even possible that this residue could be used in its entirety to make heat shields.
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Of the sections I read in their entirety the coverage is somewhat variable.
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On 30 November the Decree on Missionary Activity was voted through chapter by chapter, and then approved in its entirety .
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Only by offering the play in its entirety , blemishes and all, does its content makes sense.
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Or survive the pain of remembering the past in its entirety ?
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Such models of sites and structures have the advantage of giving a three-dimensional view and show the site in its entirety .
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The completed cycle was screened in its entirety for the first time at the Venice Festival this autumn.
in our/their midst
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Another athlete with those same qualities now toils in our midst .
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As we rushed to prepare to open the Sale there appeared in our midst an unknown young man.
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But when the others sat for the Scripture readings, Ray McGovern remained upright in their midst , provoking wariness and speculation.
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Downstairs, when Jessica had stormed out, her parents had found themselves remarkably constrained by the stranger in their midst .
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He was the weevil in the fruit, according to Rex, the canker in their midst .
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People living in Surrey Street say they are tired of an unhealthy eyesore in their midst .
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The entrepreneurial spirit is alive and working in our midst .
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They insisted that the explosive events occurring in their midst were the work of the Holy Spirit.
keep sb on their toes
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With a test every Friday, she keeps her students on their toes .
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And, keeping them on their toes ... the doctors who walk eighteen miles a day.
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He keeps them on their toes .
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Inflation, which depletes the value of stocks and bonds, also keeps investors on their toes .
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Meetings are held every nineteen days, not necessarily Sundays, which must keep people on their toes .
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The general use of disapproval in order to keep people on their toes tends to be counterproductive after a time.
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Together, these threats are supposed to discipline managers and keep them on their toes .
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We have improved because a few extra players have come in and the bench is outstanding which keeps everyone on their toes .
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You have to have good people doing these jobs, and you have to keep folks on their toes .
knock sb off their pedestal/perch
knock/lift etc sb off their feet
no one in their right mind ...
our/their eyes meet
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Their eyes met across the crowded room.
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As the woman searched for a seat, their eyes met and held.
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As their eyes met , Quinn suddenly felt that Stillman had become invisible.
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But when our eyes meet , the invisible daggers fly.
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In between times he looked out the window or stared at me, smiling when our eyes met .
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The family could hear her swift heavy steps, up there, and did not let their eyes meet .
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Then their eyes met and it was not about money.
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When their eyes meet she envisions the fulfillment of her dream of marrying a man with aristocratic connections not from Middlemarch.
our/your/their differences
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By looking to the Bible and seeking spiritual guidance, he is taking steps to reconcile our differences .
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Despite our differences , I had no need or desire to slam the new administration.
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If our needs conflict I am certainly ready to explore our differences and I may be prepared to compromise.
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In recent weeks the two groups had buried their differences to stage joint armed protests across the country.
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So do you think that we could put our differences aside for just one evening?
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We discussed our differences and agreed to call an armistice.
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When you are weighing up which lender to go to for your loan, you ignore their differences at your peril.
put sb in their place
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I'd like to put her in her place - she thinks she's so special.
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Battered and beleaguered, Arsenal had been put firmly in their place .
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The Administration of Justice Act 1982 swept away the remaining ones without putting anything in their place .
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Was Morrissey helped put them in their place .
put sb off their stride
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Human experimenters have found it surprisingly difficult to put bats off their stride by playing loud artificial ultrasound at them.
put sb off their stroke
put sb/sth through their paces
put sth/sb out of their misery
relieve sb of their post/duties/command etc
say sth/tell sb sth to their face
sb can do sth in their sleep
sb can do sth standing on their head
sb can't get it into their (thick) skull
sb has decided to honour us with their presence
sb has learned their lesson
sb has paid their debt to society
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After 20 years in jail, Murray feels he has paid his debt to society.
sb has their own life to lead
sb is helping the police with their enquiries
sb is up to their (old) tricks
sb nearly/almost fell off their chair
sb was (just) minding their own business
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I was just walking along, minding my own business , when this guy ran straight into me.
sb will be laughing on the other side of their face
sb would give their eye teeth for sth
sb would give their right arm to do sth
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These parents would give their right arms to get their kids into a prestigious school.
sb would turn in their grave
sb's bark is worse than their bite
sb's eyes popped (out of their head)
sb's life flashes before their eyes
send sb off with a flea in their ear
sth/sb has their uses
sweep sb off their feet
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Donald absolutely swept me off my feet.
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She's just waiting to be swept off her feet by a handsome stranger.
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Then Peter came into my life and swept me off my feet.
walk sb off their feet
wing its/their way
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His resignation was winging its way to Sheppards yesterday afternoon.
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If it slips then, as it probably will, the Hingston fortune will wing its way elsewhere.
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Out of a group of trees near by a rook flew, winging its way leisurely across the Park towards him.
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Photographs had winged their way across, and presents at Christmas and Easter, with Mammy's birthday a speciality.
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Readers' original gardening tips Another batch of £50 cash prizes are winging their way to this month's top tipsters.
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Small but dangerously exciting trickles of pleasure were still winging their way through her virtually defenceless body.
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Within seventy minutes each plane has been unloaded, reloaded and winging its way to destination cities.