(~s, ~ing, ~ed)
Frequency: The ~ is one of the 700 most common ~s in English.
1.
A ~ is a single unit of language that can be represented in writing or speech. In English, a ~ has a space on either side of it when it is written.
The ~s stood out clearly on the page...
The ~ ‘ginseng’ comes from the Chinese ~ ‘Shen-seng’.
...swear ~s...
N-COUNT
2.
Someone’s ~s are what they say or write.
I was devastated when her ~s came true...
The ~s of the young woman doctor echoed in his ears...
N-PLURAL: oft with poss
3.
The ~s of a song consist of the text that is sung, in contrast to the music that is played.
Can you hear the ~s on the album?
= lyrics
N-PLURAL: usu the N
4.
If you have a ~ with someone, you have a short conversation with them. (SPOKEN)
I think it’s time you had a ~ with him...
James, could I have a quiet ~?...
N-SING: a N
5.
If you offer someone a ~ of something such as warning, advice, or praise, you warn, advise, or praise them.
A ~ of warning. Don’t stick too precisely to what it says in the book...
N-COUNT: N of n
6.
If you say that someone does not hear, understand, or say a ~, you are emphasizing that they hear, understand, or say nothing at all.
I can’t understand a ~ she says...
Not a ~ was spoken.
N-SING: a N, with brd-neg emphasis
7.
If there is ~ of something, people receive news or information about it.
There is no ~ from the authorities on the reported attack...
Word has been spreading fast of the incidents on the streets...
N-UNCOUNT: also the N
8.
If you give your ~, you make a sincere promise to someone.
...an adult who gave his ~ the boy would be supervised...
He simply cannot be trusted to keep his ~.
N-SING: poss N
9.
If someone gives the ~ to do something, they give an order to do it.
I want nothing said about this until I give the ~.
N-SING: the N
10.
To ~ something in a particular way means to choose or use particular ~s to express it.
If I had written the letter, I might have ~ed it differently.
VERB: V n adv/prep
-~ed
...a strongly-~ed statement.
...a carefully-~ed speech.
COMB in ADJ
11.
see also ~ing , code ~ , four-letter ~ , play on ~s , printed ~ , spoken ~ , written ~
12.
If you say that people consider something to be a dirty ~, you mean that they disapprove of it.
So many people think feminism is a dirty ~.
PHRASE: usu v-link PHR
13.
If you do something from the ~ go, you do it from the very beginning of a period of time or situation.
It’s essential you make the right decisions from the ~ go.
PHRASE: PHR with cl
14.
You can use in their ~s or in their own ~s to indicate that you are reporting what someone said using the exact ~s that they used.
Even the Assistant Secretary of State had to admit that previous policy did not, in his ~s, produce results.
PHRASE: PHR with cl
15.
You use in a ~ to indicate that you are giving a summary of what you have just been saying, or are giving a reply, in as brief a way as possible.
‘Shouldn’t he be given the leading role?’—‘In a ~–No.’
= in short
PHRASE: PHR with cl
16.
If someone has the last ~ or the final ~ in a discussion, argument, or disagreement, they are the one who wins it or who makes the final decision.
She does like to have the last ~ in any discussion...
The final ~ will still come from the Secretary of State.
PHRASE
17.
If you say that something is the last ~ in luxury, comfort, or some other quality, you are emphasizing that it has a great deal of this quality.
The spa is the last ~ in luxury and efficiency.
PHRASE: PHR n, usu v-link PHR emphasis
18.
If you say that someone has said something, but not in so many ~s, you mean that they said it or expressed it, but in a very indirect way.
‘And has she agreed to go with you?’—‘Not in so many ~s. But I read her thoughts’.
PHRASE: usu with brd-neg, usu PHR after v, PHR with cl
19.
If news or information passes by ~ of mouth, people tell it to each other rather than it being printed in written form.
The story has been passed down by ~ of mouth.
PHRASE: oft by/through PHR
20.
You say in other ~s in order to introduce a different, and usually simpler, explanation or interpretation of something that has just been said.
The mobile library services have been reorganised–in other ~s, they visit fewer places.
PHRASE: PHR with cl
21.
If you say something in your own ~s, you express it in your own way, without copying or repeating someone else’s description.
Now tell us in your own ~s about the events of Saturday.
PHRASE: PHR after v, PHR with cl
22.
If you say to someone ‘take my ~ for it’, you mean that they should believe you because you are telling the truth.
You’ll buy nothing but trouble if you buy that house, take my ~ for it.
PHRASE: V inflects
23.
If you repeat something ~ for ~, you repeat it exactly as it was originally said or written.
I don’t try to memorize speeches ~ for ~.
= verbatim
PHRASE: PHR after v
24.
not get a ~ in edgeways: see edgeways
not mince your ~s: see mince
the operative ~: see operative
war of ~s: see war