CONTAIN


Meaning of CONTAIN in English

(~s, ~ing, ~ed)

Frequency: The word is one of the 1500 most common words in English.

1.

If something such as a box, bag, room, or place ~s things, those things are inside it.

The bag ~ed a Christmas card...

Factory shops ~ a wide range of cheap furnishings...

The 77,000-acre estate ~s five of the highest peaks in Scotland.

VERB: no cont, V n, V n, V n

2.

If a substance ~s something, that thing is a part of it.

Many cars run on petrol which ~s lead.

VERB: no cont, V n

3.

If writing, speech, or film ~s particular information, ideas, or images, it includes them.

This sheet ~ed a list of problems a patient might like to raise with the doctor...

The two discs also ~ two of Britten’s lesser-known song-cycles.

VERB: no cont, V n, V n

4.

If a group or organization ~s a certain number of people, those are the people that are in it.

The committee ~s 11 Democrats and nine Republicans.

VERB: no cont, V n

5.

If you ~ something, you control it and prevent it from spreading or increasing.

More than a hundred firemen are still trying to ~ the fire at the plant...

VERB: V n

6.

If you cannot ~ a feeling such as excitement or anger, or if you cannot ~ yourself, you cannot prevent yourself from showing your feelings.

But he was bursting with curiosity, and one day he just couldn’t ~ himself. ‘What are you going to do?’ he asked...

Evans could barely ~ his delight: ‘I’m so proud of her,’ he said.

VERB: V pron-refl, V n

7.

see also self-~ed

Collins COBUILD.      Толковый словарь английского языка для изучающих язык Коллинз COBUILD (международная база данных языков Бирмингемского университета) .