(~s)
Frequency: The word is one of the 700 most common words in English.
1.
An ~ is something that happens, especially when it is unusual or important. You can use ~s to describe all the things that are happening in a particular situation.
...the ~s of Black Wednesday...
A new book by Grass is always an ~.
N-COUNT
2.
An ~ is a planned and organized occasion, for example a social gathering or a sports match.
...major sporting ~s.
...our programme of lectures and social ~s.
N-COUNT: usu with supp
3.
An ~ is one of the races or competitions that are part of an organized occasion such as a sports meeting.
A solo piper opens Aberdeen Highland Games at 10am and the main ~s start at 1pm.
N-COUNT
4.
You use in the ~ of, in the ~ that, and in that ~ when you are talking about a possible future situation, especially when you are planning what to do if it occurs.
The bank has agreed to give an immediate refund in the unlikely ~ of an error being made...
PHRASE
5.
You say in any ~ after you have been discussing a situation, in order to indicate that what you are saying is true or possible, in spite of anything that has happened or may happen.
In any ~, the bowling alley restaurant proved quite acceptable.
= anyway
PHRASE: PHR with cl
6.
You say in the ~ after you have been discussing what could have happened in a particular situation, in order to indicate that you are now describing what actually did happen. (BRIT)
‘Don’t underestimate us’, Norman Willis warned last year. There was, in the ~, little danger of that.
PHRASE: PHR with cl