(~s)
Frequency: The word is one of the 3000 most common words in English.
1.
The ~s of a particular situation are the conditions which affect what happens.
Recent opinion polls show that 60 percent favor abortion under certain ~s...
I wish we could have met under happier ~s.
N-COUNT: usu pl, with supp
2.
The ~s of an event are the way it happened or the causes of it.
I’m making inquiries about the ~s of Mary Dean’s murder...
Hundreds of people had died there in terrible ~s during and after the revolution.
N-PLURAL: with supp, oft the N of n
3.
Your ~s are the conditions of your life, especially the amount of money that you have.
...help and support for the single mother, whatever her ~s...
I wouldn’t have expected to find you in such comfortable ~s.
= situation
N-PLURAL: usu with poss
4.
Events and situations which cannot be controlled are sometimes referred to as ~.
There are those, you know, who, by ~, end up homeless...
You might say that we’ve been victims of ~.
N-UNCOUNT
5.
You can emphasize that something must not or will not happen by saying that it must not or will not happen under any ~s.
She made it clear that under no ~s would she cancel the trip.
PHRASE: PHR with cl emphasis
6.
You can use in the ~s or under the ~s before or after a statement to indicate that you have considered the conditions affecting the situation before making the statement.
Under the ~s, a crash was unavoidable...
PHRASE: PHR with cl