month S1 W1 /mʌnθ/ BrE AmE noun [countable]
[ Language: Old English ; Origin: monath ]
1 . one of the 12 named periods of time that a year is divided into
this/last/next month
Phil is coming home for a visit next month.
She’ll be thirteen this month.
I hope I’ll have finished the work by the end of the month.
She earns about £350 a month (=each month) .
We update the schedule at least once a month.
the month of May/June etc
It snowed heavily during the month of January.
2 . a period of about four weeks:
She has an eight-month-old daughter.
He’ll be away for two months.
The symptoms she suffered varied from month to month (=every few weeks she had different medical problems) .
a month-long transport strike
3 . months a long time, especially several months:
Redecorating the kitchen took months.
for/in months
I haven’t seen him for months.
4 . month after month used to emphasize that something happens regularly or continuously for a period of time:
I felt I was doing the same old thing week after week, month after month.
5 . month by month used when you are talking about a situation that develops slowly and steadily over a period of time:
Unemployment figures are rising month by month.
6 . never/not in a month of Sundays especially British English spoken used to emphasize that something will definitely never happen:
You won’t find anyone to do that job in a month of Sundays.
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COLLOCATIONS
■ adjectives
▪ last month
The new restaurant opened last month.
▪ the past month
They had come to know and like each other in the past month.
▪ the previous/preceding month (=the month before)
Sales were lower than in the previous month.
▪ next month
The movie will be released next month.
▪ the coming months (=the next few months)
Further work is planned for the coming months.
▪ the following month (=the next month)
By the following month he had raised over £400.
▪ the summer/autumn/winter/spring months
It's very cold here during the winter months.
▪ a calendar month (=one of the 12 months of the year)
We get paid on the last day of the calendar month.
■ phrases
▪ in recent months
He had started to drink heavily in recent months.
▪ the beginning/end/middle of the month
You’ll receive your wages at the end of the month.
▪ the time of the month
This is the busiest time of the month.
▪ the months of the year
We're learning the months of the year in German.
■ verbs
▪ a month passes/goes by
Seven months went by before he returned.