I. SUBORDINATING CONJUNCTION USES
Frequency: The word is one of the 1500 most common words in English.
1.
If you do something in ~ to achieve a particular thing or in ~ that something can happen, you do it because you want to achieve that thing.
Most schools are extremely unwilling to cut down on staff in ~ to cut costs.
PHRASE
2.
If someone must be in a particular situation in ~ to achieve something they want, they cannot achieve that thing if they are not in that situation.
They need hostages in ~ to bargain with the government.
PHRASE
3.
If something must happen in ~ for something else to happen, the second thing cannot happen if the first thing does not happen.
In ~ for their computers to trace a person’s records, they need both the name and address of the individual.
PHRASE: CONJ n to-inf
II. COMMANDS AND REQUESTS
(~s, ~ing, ~ed)
Frequency: The word is one of the 700 most common words in English.
Please look at category 12 to see if the expression you are looking for is shown under another headword.
1.
If a person in authority ~s someone to do something, they tell them to do it.
Williams ~ed him to leave...
He ~ed the women out of the car...
‘Let him go!’ he ~ed...
‘Go up to your room. Now,’ he ~ed him.
= command
VERB: V n to-inf, V n prep/adv, V with quote, V n with quote
2.
If someone in authority ~s something, they give instructions that it should be done.
The President has ~ed a full investigation...
The radio said that the prime minister had ~ed price controls to be introduced...
He ~ed that all party property be confiscated...
The President ~ed him moved because of fears that his comrades would try to free him.
VERB: V n, V n to-inf, V that, V n -ed
3.
If someone in authority gives you an ~, they tell you to do something.
The activists were shot when they refused to obey an ~ to halt...
As darkness fell, Clinton gave ~s for his men to rest...
They were later arrested and executed on the ~s of Stalin.
= command, instruction
N-COUNT
4.
A court ~ is a legal instruction stating that something must be done.
She has decided not to appeal against a court ~ banning her from keeping animals...
He was placed under a two-year supervision ~.
N-COUNT: usu supp N
5.
When you ~ something that you are going to pay for, you ask for it to be brought to you, sent to you, or obtained for you.
Atanas ~ed a shrimp cocktail and a salad...
The waitress appeared. ‘Are you ready to ~?’...
We ~ed him a beer.
VERB: V n, V, V n n
6.
An ~ is a request for something to be brought, made, or obtained for you in return for money.
British Rail are going to place an ~ for a hundred and eighty-eight trains.
N-COUNT: oft N for n
7.
Someone’s ~ is what they have asked to be brought, made, or obtained for them in return for money.
The waiter returned with their ~ and Graham signed the bill...
They can’t supply our ~.
N-COUNT: poss N
8.
see also holy ~s , mail ~ , postal ~ , standing ~
9.
Something that is on ~ at a shop or factory has been asked for but has not yet been supplied.
The airlines still have 2,500 new aeroplanes on ~.
PHRASE: PHR after v, v-link PHR
10.
If you do something to ~, you do it whenever you are asked to do it.
She now makes wonderful dried flower arrangements to ~...
PHRASE: PHR after v
11.
If you are under ~s to do something, you have been told to do it by someone in authority.
I am under ~s not to discuss his mission or his location with anyone.
PHRASE: v-link PHR to-inf
12.
your marching ~s: see march
a tall ~: see tall
III. ARRANGEMENTS, SITUATIONS, AND GROUPINGS
(~s, ~ing, ~ed)
Frequency: The word is one of the 1500 most common words in English.
Please look at category 17 to see if the expression you are looking for is shown under another headword.
1.
If a set of things are arranged or done in a particular ~, they are arranged or done so one thing follows another, often according to a particular factor such as importance.
Write down (in ~ of priority) the qualities you’d like to have...
Music shops should arrange their recordings in simple alphabetical ~, rather than by category...
N-UNCOUNT: also a N, usu with supp, oft in/into N
2.
Order is the situation that exists when everything is in the correct or expected place, or happens at the correct or expected time.
The wish to impose ~ upon confusion is a kind of intellectual instinct...
Making lists can create ~ and control.
? confusion, chaos
N-UNCOUNT
3.
Order is the situation that exists when people obey the law and do not fight or riot.
Troops were sent to the islands to restore ~ last November...
He has the power to use force to maintain public ~.
N-UNCOUNT
4.
When people talk about a particular ~, they mean the way society is organized at a particular time.
The end of the Cold War has produced the prospect of a new world ~ based on international co-operation...
N-SING: with supp
5.
The way that something is ~ed is the way that it is organized and structured.
...a society which is ~ed by hierarchy...
We know the French ~ things differently.
...a carefully ~ed system in which everyone has his place.
VERB: be V-ed, V n, V-ed
6.
If you refer to something of a particular ~, you mean something of a particular kind. (FORMAL)
Another unexpected event, though of quite a different ~, occurred one evening in 1973...
N-COUNT: with supp, usu of supp N
7.
A religious ~ is a group of monks or nuns who live according to a particular set of rules.
...the Benedictine ~ of monks.
N-COUNT
8.
see also ~ed , law and ~ , pecking ~ , point of ~
9.
If you put or keep something in ~, you make sure that it is tidy or properly organized.
Now he has a chance to put his life back in ~...
Someone comes in every day to check all is in ~.
PHRASE: PHR after v, v-link PHR
10.
If you think something is in ~, you think it should happen or be provided.
Reforms are clearly in ~...
PHRASE: v-link PHR
11.
You use in the ~ of or of the ~ of when mentioning an approximate figure.
They borrowed something in the ~ of ?10 million...
PREP-PHRASE: PREP amount
12.
If something is in good ~, it is in good condition.
The vessel’s safety equipment was not in good ~.
PHRASE: v-link PHR
13.
A machine or device that is in working ~ is functioning properly and is not broken.
Only half of the spacecraft’s six science instruments are still in working ~.
PHRASE: v-link PHR
14.
If a particular way of behaving or doing something is the ~ of the day, it is very common.
These are strange times in which we live, and strange arrangements appear to be the ~ of the day.
PHRASE: v-link PHR
15.
A machine or device that is out of ~ is broken and does not work.
Their phone’s out of ~.
PHRASE: v-link PHR
16.
If you say that someone or their behaviour is out of ~, you mean that their behaviour is unacceptable or unfair. (INFORMAL)
You don’t think the paper’s a bit out of ~ in publishing it?
PHRASE: v-link PHR
17.
to put your house in ~: see house
~ of magnitude: see magnitude