(~s)
Frequency: The word is one of the 1500 most common words in English.
1.
Someone’s ~ is all the circumstances, people, things, and events around them that influence their life.
Pupils in our schools are taught in a safe, secure ~...
The moral characters of men are formed not by heredity but by ~...
N-VAR
2.
Your ~ consists of the particular natural surroundings in which you live or exist, considered in relation to their physical characteristics or weather conditions.
...the maintenance of a safe ~ for marine mammals.
N-COUNT: usu sing, with supp
3.
The ~ is the natural world of land, sea, air, plants, and animals.
...persuading people to respect the ~.
N-SING: the N