I. com ‧ pre ‧ hen ‧ sive W3 AC /ˌkɒmprɪˈhensɪv◂ $ ˌkɑːm-/ BrE AmE adjective
[ Word Family: noun : ↑ comprehensiveness ; adverb : ↑ comprehensively ; adjective : ↑ comprehensive ]
1 . including all the necessary facts, details, or problems that need to be dealt with SYN thorough :
We offer our customers a comprehensive range of financial products.
a comprehensive guide to British hotels and restaurants
The following guidelines do not aim to be totally comprehensive.
comprehensive review/study/survey/account etc
a thorough and comprehensive review of the case
a comprehensive study of alcoholism
► Do not confuse with comprehensible (=able to be understood) or understanding (=sympathetic about people’s problems) : His report was barely comprehensible. | My parents are very understanding.
2 . comprehensive insurance/cover/policy motor insurance that pays for damage whether it is caused by you or someone else
3 . comprehensive education/system a system of education in Britain in which children of different abilities go to the same school and are taught together
—comprehensively adverb :
No system has failed as comprehensively as the prison system.
—comprehensiveness noun [uncountable]
• • •
COLLOCATIONS
■ comprehensive + NOUN
▪ a comprehensive range of something
The town has a comprehensive range of sporting facilities.
▪ a comprehensive study/survey/assessment
The report includes a comprehensive study of the company’s training needs.
▪ a comprehensive account/report
He wrote a fairly comprehensive account of the islands at that time.
▪ a comprehensive guide
You’ll need to have a comprehensive guide to university courses.
▪ a comprehensive list
Here is a comprehensive list of the good hotels in the area.
▪ a comprehensive service
Our professional staff provide a comprehensive service.
▪ a comprehensive programme
Your holiday will include a comprehensive programme of sightseeing trips.
▪ a comprehensive approach
He promised a comprehensive approach to health care reform.
▪ a comprehensive picture
The police still do not have a comprehensive picture of what happened.
▪ comprehensive information
The information we have is fairly comprehensive.
■ adverbs
▪ fully comprehensive
The report does not claim to be fully comprehensive.
▪ fairly/reasonably comprehensive
The available data on world population is reasonably comprehensive.
▪ extremely comprehensive
The instruction manual is extremely comprehensive.
II. ˌcompreˈhensive ˌschool BrE AmE ( also comprehensive ) noun [countable]
a state school in Britain for children over the age of 11 of different abilities:
Kylie goes to the local comprehensive.
Nine out of ten secondary school children are in comprehensive schools.