(~s, coring, ~d)
Frequency: The word is one of the 3000 most common words in English.
1.
The ~ of a fruit is the central part of it. It contains seeds or pips.
Peel the pears and remove the ~s.
N-COUNT: oft n N
2.
If you ~ a fruit, you remove its ~.
...machines for peeling and coring apples.
VERB: V n
3.
The ~ of an object, building, or city is the central part of it.
...the earth’s ~...
The ~ of the city is a series of ancient squares.
= centre
N-COUNT: usu with poss
4.
The ~ of something such as a problem or an issue is the part of it that has to be understood or accepted before the whole thing can be understood or dealt with.
...the ability to get straight to the ~ of a problem...
= heart
N-SING: the N, usu N of n
5.
A ~ team or a ~ group is a group of people who do the main part of a job or piece of work. Other people may also help, but only for limited periods of time.
We already have our ~ team in place...
A ~ of about six staff would continue with the project.
N-SING: N n, N of n
6.
In a school or college, ~ subjects are a group of subjects that have to be studied.
The ~ subjects are English, mathematics and science...
...a ~ of nine academic subjects.
N-SING: usu N n
7.
The ~ businesses or the ~ activities of a company or organization are their most important ones.
The group plans to concentrate on six ~ businesses...
However, the main ~ of the company performed outstandingly.
N-SING: usu N n
8.
see also hard ~ , hard-~ , soft-~
9.
You can use to the ~ to describe someone who is a very strong supporter of someone or something and will never change their views. For example, you can say that someone is Republican to the ~.
The villagers are royalist to the ~.
= through and through
PHRASE: adj/n PHR
10.
If someone is shaken to the ~ or shocked to the ~, they are extremely shaken or shocked.
Leonard was shaken to the ~; he’d never seen or read anything like it.
PHRASE: usu -ed PHR