(~s, ~ing, ~ed)
Frequency: The word is one of the 700 most common words in English.
1.
If you have an ~ in something, you want to learn or hear more about it.
There has been a lively ~ in the elections in the last two weeks...
His parents tried to discourage his ~ in music, but he persisted...
Food was of no ~ to her at all.
N-UNCOUNT: also a N
2.
Your ~s are the things that you enjoy doing.
Encourage your child in her ~s and hobbies even if they’re things that you know little about...
N-COUNT
3.
If something ~s you, it attracts your attention so that you want to learn or hear more about it or continue doing it.
That passage ~ed me because it seems to parallel very closely what you’re doing in the novel...
It may ~ you to know that Miss Woods, the housekeeper, witnessed the attack.
VERB: V n, it V n to-inf
4.
If you are trying to persuade someone to buy or do something, you can say that you are trying to ~ them in it.
In the meantime I can’t ~ you in a new car, I suppose?...
VERB: V n in n/-ing
5.
If something is in the ~s of a particular person or group, it will benefit them in some way.
Did those directors act in the best ~s of their club?...
N-COUNT: usu pl, usu in N with poss
6.
You can use ~s to refer to groups of people who you think use their power or money to benefit themselves.
The government accused unnamed ‘foreign ~s’ of inciting the trouble...
N-COUNT: usu pl, supp N
7.
A person or organization that has ~s in a company or in a particular type of business owns shares in this company or this type of business. (BUSINESS)
Disney will retain a 51 percent controlling ~ in the venture.
N-COUNT: usu with supp
8.
If a person, country, or organization has an ~ in a possible event or situation, they want that event or situation to happen because they are likely to benefit from it.
The West has an ~ in promoting democratic forces in Eastern Europe...
N-COUNT: usu N in n/-ing
9.
Interest is extra money that you receive if you have invested a sum of money. Interest is also the extra money that you pay if you have borrowed money or are buying something on credit.
Does your current account pay ~?...
N-UNCOUNT: oft N n
10.
see also ~ed , ~ing , compound ~ , self-~ , vested ~
11.
If you do something in the ~s of a particular result or situation, you do it in order to achieve that result or maintain that situation.
...a call for all businessmen to work together in the ~s of national stability.
to have someone’s ~s at heart: see heart
PHRASE: N inflects, PHR n