(~s)
Frequency: The word is one of the 700 most common words in English.
1.
If it is ~ to do something, it can be done.
If it is ~ to find out where your brother is, we shall...
Everything is ~ if we want it enough...
This morning he had tried every way ~ to contact her...
It’s been a beautiful evening and you have made it all ~.
ADJ: usu v-link ADJ, oft it v-link ADJ to-inf
2.
A ~ event is one that might happen.
He referred the matter to the Attorney General for ~ action against several newspapers...
Her family is discussing a ~ move to America...
One ~ solution, if all else fails, is to take legal action...
ADJ: usu ADJ n
3.
If you say that it is ~ that something is true or correct, you mean that although you do not know whether it is true or correct, you accept that it might be.
It is ~ that there’s an explanation for all this...
= conceivable
ADJ: v-link ADJ, oft it v-link ADJ that vagueness
4.
If you do something as soon as ~, you do it as soon as you can. If you get as much as ~ of something, you get as much of it as you can.
Please make your decision as soon as ~...
I want to learn as much as ~ about the industry so that I’m better prepared...
Michael sat down as far away from her as ~...
ADJ: as adv/pron as ADJ
5.
You use ~ with superlative adjectives to emphasize that something has more or less of a quality than anything else of its kind.
They have joined the job market at the worst ~ time...
He is doing the best job ~.
ADJ: adj-superl ADJ n, adj-superl n ADJ emphasis
6.
You use ~ in expressions such as ‘if ~’ and ‘if at all ~’ when stating a wish or intention, to show that although this is what you really want, you may have to accept something different.
I need to see you, right away if ~.
...the moral duty to uphold peace if at all ~.
ADJ politeness
7.
If you describe someone as, for example, a ~ Prime Minister, you mean that they may become Prime Minister.
Bradley has been considered a ~ presidential contender himself.
= potential
ADJ: ADJ n
•
Possible is also a noun.
Kennedy, who divorced wife Joan in 1982, was tipped as a presidential ~...
N-COUNT
8.
The ~ is everything that can be done in a situation.
He is a democrat with the skill, nerve, and ingenuity to push the limits of the ~.
N-SING: the N