INDEX:
1. to visit a person
2. to visit someone for a short time
3. to visit a place as a tourist
4. to visit a place as part of your official duties
5. to visit a person or place on the way to somewhere else
6. someone who visits someone else
7. an occasion when someone visits a place or person
RELATED WORDS
see also
↑ TRAVEL
↑ HOLIDAY/VACATION
↑ STAY (4-8)
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1. to visit a person
▷ visit /ˈvɪzɪt, ˈvɪzət/ [intransitive/transitive verb]
to go and spend time with someone, especially in their home :
▪ I visit my grandparents at least once a month.
▪ Paul visited her every day when she was in hospital.
▪ We won’t be that far away - you’ll be able to come and visit.
▷ go to see/go and see /ˌgəʊ tə ˈsiː, ˌgəʊ ən ˈsiː/ [verb phrase] spoken
to visit someone :
▪ I’m going to see my brother and his family tomorrow.
▪ Better go and see your father tonight.
▪ Why don’t you go and see your mother?
go see
American spoken
▪ You really should go see Mattie some time.
▷ go over/go around/go round /ˌgəʊ ˈəʊvəʳ, ˌgəʊ əˈraʊnd, ˌgəʊ ˈraʊnd/ [intransitive phrasal verb]
to visit someone at their house, especially if they live close to you :
▪ I saw your Mum today, and I promised that we’d go round later.
go over/go around/go round to
▪ Let’s get a bottle of wine and go over to Simon’s place.
▷ come over/come around/come round /ˌkʌm ˈəʊvəʳ, ˌkʌm əˈraʊnd, ˌkʌm ˈraʊnd/ [intransitive phrasal verb]
if someone comes over or comes round, they visit you at your house, especially if they live close to you :
▪ I’ll come over at about 7 o'clock,
▪ Why don’t you come round later and we’ll discuss it over dinner?
▷ pay a visit /ˌpeɪ ə ˈvɪzə̇t/ [verb phrase]
to visit someone, especially for a particular reason :
pay a visit to somebody
▪ Your hand looks very swollen, I think you should pay a visit to the doctor.
pay somebody a visit
▪ Isn’t it time you paid your mother a visit?
▷ look up /ˌlʊk ˈʌp/ [transitive phrasal verb]
to visit someone that you have not seen for a long time, while you are spending some time in the area where they live :
look somebody up
▪ I’ll give you my address so you can look me up whenever you’re in London.
look up somebody
▪ I looked up a few old friends while I was in Birmingham.
▷ descend on/upon /dɪˈsend ɒn, əˌpɒn/ [transitive phrasal verb]
if a lot of people, especially members of your family, descend on you, all of them suddenly visit you at the same time :
▪ Sorry for just descending on you like this, Pam -- we had nowhere else to stay.
▪ The following week all my family descended upon me.
2. to visit someone for a short time
▷ call on/call in on /ˈkɔːl ɒn, ˌkɔːl ˈɪn ɒn/ [transitive phrasal verb] especially British
to visit someone for a short time :
▪ Why don’t you call on Matt on your way back from work and see how he is?
▪ One of our salesmen would be delighted to call in on you in your own home.
▷ drop in/drop by /ˌdrɒp ˈɪn, ˌdrɒp ˈbaɪǁˌdrɑːp-/ [intransitive phrasal verb] especially spoken
to visit someone for a short time, especially when they are not expecting you :
▪ Lizzie said she’d drop in later to let us know what the arrangements are for tonight.
▪ Kate dropped by this morning.
drop in to see somebody
▪ I’ll drop in to see you later.
▷ pop in /ˌpɒp ˈɪnǁpɑːp-/ [intransitive phrasal verb] British informal
to visit someone for a very short time :
▪ I might be able to pop in for about half an hour.
▪ Just pop by when you’ve got a minute and I’ll show you our holiday photographs.
pop in to see somebody
▪ I popped in to see Keith on my way home.
▷ call round/call in /ˌkɔːl ˈraʊnd, ˌkɔːl ˈɪn/ [intransitive phrasal verb] British
to visit someone who lives near you for a short time :
▪ Fred calls round sometimes on his way to the sports centre.
▪ I’ll call in tomorrow then, Mum.
3. to visit a place as a tourist
▷ visit /ˈvɪzɪt, ˈvɪzət/ [transitive verb]
▪ Every year thousands of tourists visit Turkey.
▪ We spent the day visiting temples and other historic buildings.
▷ pay a visit /ˌpeɪ ə ˈvɪzə̇t/ [verb phrase]
to visit a place, especially because you are near it :
▪ We were near Edinburgh, so we decided to pay a visit.
pay a visit to
▪ We paid a quick visit to New York before flying home.
▷ go to see/go and see also go see American spoken /ˌgəʊ tə ˈsiː, ˌgəʊ ən ˈsiː , ˌgəʊ ˈsiː/ [verb phrase]
to visit a well-known place or building while you are in a city or country :
▪ If you’re in Paris, you must go to see the Pompidou Centre.
▪ Let’s go and see the cathedral.
▪ Why don’t we go see the Statue of Liberty?
▷ see the sights /ˌsiː ðə ˈsaɪts/ [verb phrase]
to visit a city or country and look at the famous and interesting places there :
▪ I wanted to look round Moscow and see the sights.
see the sights of
▪ We’re going on a bus tour today, to see the sights of Copenhagen.
▷ sightseeing /ˈsaɪtˌsiːɪŋ/ [uncountable noun]
the activity of visiting and travelling around a place to look at the famous and interesting places there :
▪ After an afternoon’s sightseeing we were all exhausted.
▪ We spent the days sightseeing and the evenings sitting in cosy bars drinking the local wine.
go sightseeing
▪ Why don’t we go sightseeing tomorrow?
▷ do /duː/ [transitive verb not in passive] spoken
to visit a particular famous place while you are on holiday :
▪ I think we ought to do St Paul’s while we’re in London.
▪ We did the Eiffel Tower yesterday.
4. to visit a place as part of your official duties
▷ visit /ˈvɪzɪt, ˈvɪzət/ [intransitive/transitive verb not in passive]
▪ The Ambassador last visited Hong Kong in 1982.
▪ This afternoon the Queen will visit Great Ormond Street Children’s Hospital.
▪ A police officer will be visiting next week to give the children a talk on crime prevention.
visiting [adjective only before noun]
▪ We all had to attend a reception for some visiting dignitaries.
5. to visit a person or place on the way to somewhere else
▷ stop by also stop in American /ˌstɒp ˈbaɪ, ˌstɒp ˈɪnǁˌstɑːp-/ [intransitive phrasal verb]
to visit a person for a short time while you are on your way to somewhere else :
▪ I just stopped in to say goodbye before I go on vacation.
▪ Stop by for a drink on your way home from work.
▷ look in on /ˌlʊk ˈɪn ɒn/ [transitive phrasal verb]
to make a short visit to someone, while you are on your way somewhere, especially if they are ill or need help :
▪ I promised to look in on Dad and see if he’s feeling better.
▪ Tom will look in on you later to see if you need anything.
▷ call in British /come by American /ˌkɔːl ˈɪn, ˌkʌm ˈbaɪ/ [intransitive phrasal verb]
to visit a person or place for a short time while you are on your way to somewhere else :
▪ Why don’t you call in on your way up north?
▪ Come by on Saturday and we’ll have a drink together.
call in on somebody
▪ I called in on Sally yesterday.
▷ stop off /ˌstɒp ˈɒfǁˌstɑːp-/ [intransitive phrasal verb]
to make a short visit to a place during a journey :
▪ We’ll stop off and see you on our way back.
stop off in/at
▪ He stopped off in Paris for a couple of days.
▷ stop over /ˌstɒp ˈəʊvəʳǁˌstɑːp-/ [intransitive phrasal verb]
to visit somewhere for a short time during a long journey, especially a plane flight :
stop over in
▪ The flight to Australia takes 28 hours but we stop over in Singapore for a night.
stopover /ˈstɒpəʊvəʳǁˈstɑːp-/ [countable noun]
▪ The journey includes a two-day stopover in Miami before flying on to Mexico.
6. someone who visits someone else
▷ visitor /ˈvɪzɪtəʳ, ˈvɪzətəʳ/ [countable noun]
▪ We have nowhere for visitors to sleep at the moment as the spare room is being decorated.
▪ Colette offered her visitor a glass of wine.
▪ I’ve been asked to show some important visitors round the department.
▷ guest /gest/ [countable noun]
someone who you have invited to visit you at your home :
▪ You’re not supposed to do the dishes -- you’re a guest.
▪ Among the guests was the television presenter Jo Everton.
▪ She felt she had to stay in and entertain her guests.
have a guest
▪ We had a couple of guests for the weekend.
▷ caller /ˈkɔːləʳ/ [countable noun] especially British
someone who you do not know who visits you at home for a short time :
▪ I don’t seem to have many callers these days.
▪ When answering the door, always check the identity of callers.
▷ have company/visitors/guests /hæv ˈkʌmp ə ni, ˈvɪzə̇təʳz, ˈgests/ [verb phrase]
if you have company, visitors etc someone is visiting you in your home :
▪ I didn’t realise you had company, I’ll call back tomorrow.
▪ There’s a surprise waiting for you at home - we have unexpected guests.
7. an occasion when someone visits a place or person
▷ visit /ˈvɪzɪt, ˈvɪzət/ [countable noun]
▪ We’re all looking forward to your visit.
visit from
▪ The girls were quite excited because they were expecting a visit from their parents.
visit to
▪ The Senator’s visit to the Military Academy at Andover was a great success.
make/pay a visit to
visit a person or place
▪ The president will make a brief visit to Britain before returning home.
▪ The Queen will pay a state visit to China later this year.
▷ flying visit /ˌflaɪ-ɪŋ ˈvɪzə̇t/ [countable noun]
a very short visit, made especially when you are on your way to another place and you do not have much time :
▪ I’m afraid this is only a flying visit - we have to get to the station by three.
make a flying visit to
▪ We’re making a flying visit to Monte Carlo on our way back.