I. adjective
COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES
a constant battle
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As a student, life was a constant battle against debt.
a constant effort (= one that never stops )
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Walking was a constant effort.
a constant worry
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For shopkeepers here, break-ins are a constant worry.
a constant/inseparable companion (= someone you spend most or all of the time with )
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The two boys became constant companions.
a constant/permanent reminder (= that makes you think about something all the time )
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Peter's letters to me are a constant reminder of the happiness we shared.
a constant/permanent/perpetual state of sth
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They lived in a constant state of fear.
a constant/steady rate
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The process takes place at a constant rate.
a constant/steady speed
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The disc revolves at a constant speed.
a constant/steady/regular supply
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For dairy farming, a constant supply of lush grass is essential.
constant anxiety
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She lives a life of constant anxiety over money and job security.
constant chatter
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Jane’s constant chatter was annoying him.
constant danger (= continuing all the time )
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They are in constant danger of attack.
constant irritant
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Low-flying aircraft are a constant irritant in this area.
constant noise (= noise that does not stop )
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She was fed up with the constant noise of traffic.
constant repetition
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The job involved the constant repetition of the same movements.
constant supervision
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You need to be good at working alone without constant supervision.
constant
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The temperature of the room is kept constant.
constant/round-the-clock care (= all day and all night )
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He needs round-the-clock care.
frequent/constant/repeated references
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Medieval literature contains frequent references to insanity.
in a constant state of anarchy
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The classroom was in a constant state of anarchy .
steady/constant/endless etc stream
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A steady stream of visitors came to the house.
COLLOCATIONS FROM CORPUS
■ ADVERB
almost
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The number of female suicides remained almost constant during the same period.
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They must also be able to rally support and achieve results in the midst of almost constant organizational change.
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Our cruising grounds afford an almost constant sailing breeze and long hours of clear sunshine throughout the summer months.
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After that date it became a frequent and almost constant attribute of the genre in all countries.
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Poor, beautiful Johnny ... As the next day or two dragged by, fear became Cassie's almost constant companion.
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Jack demands almost constant attention, and, moreover, I need to build an outhouse.
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Far from being restful they are very demanding, needing almost constant attention.
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They were firing an almost constant barrage around the perimeter.
fairly
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Over the same period university expenditure, where more research is undertaken, was fairly constant at about £5,200 per student.
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Self-control and maturity are necessary for success as a pro athlete, because athletic ability is fairly constant at this level.
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Dempster represents the biter-bit brigade, being a fairly constant topic whenever journos gather together.
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Everyone was in a fairly constant state of edgy anticipation and nervousness throughout the tour.
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Without fairly constant monitoring it will be hard to tell.
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The overall success rate has remained fairly constant over the years at about one in five cases.
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The proportion not living with a partner as a part of a couple stayed fairly constant at about one in five.
relatively
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Access data is only useful when records remain relatively constant in their activity.
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The quantity of creatinine formed daily is a relatively constant amount since it is related to muscle mass.
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Given the sluggish progress of economic restructuring in the region the size of the hardware market is relatively constant .
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Power is a relatively constant factor in social relationships with policies as variables ... 4.
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The gas composition remains relatively constant up to 1-1.5% reflectance, and then increases as the gas becomes drier.
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Usually there will be some random variation of this sort superposed on a relatively constant overall pattern.
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Thereafter, however, the fibre scores remained relatively constant .
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Time-free environments One possibility is to perform experiments in the relatively constant conditions that exist near the poles.
■ NOUN
attention
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The booming Golden State, no longer moving to rural rhythms, needed constant attention from lawmakers armed with expertise.
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Crusting for chub is an art that requires concentration and constant attention to the performance.
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Present happenings require constant attention and reassessment.
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The maintenance of the dam requires the constant attention of the owners.
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Jack demands almost constant attention , and, moreover, I need to build an outhouse.
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Far from being restful they are very demanding, needing almost constant attention .
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For the next 92 days, the baby needed constant attention .
battle
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I reckoned they would be better off not being involved in our constant battles .
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Democrats viewed the trust as the only alternative to constant battles over money.
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Suddenly she was weary of the constant battle between them.
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Managers and clinicians had rather come to view each other as protagonists in the constant battle for resources.
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Hermaphrodites are in a state of constant battle against rebellious organelle genes trying to destroy their male parts.
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The entire house was infested with mice which meant that everybody was in constant battle against their droppings and their smell.
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It seemed to Putt that life was a constant battle against debt.
care
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Ron Deacon is adoptive father to five love bird chicks, who need constant care and attention.
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They are usually set up near their convents, for premature and sick children need constant care .
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The children are your constant care , and their education is something to you.
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But it needs constant care and attention, and spills show up on it very easily.
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They had been my constant care since Mr Parker had handed them to me.
change
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However, their history, from the first appointments in 1839, has been one of constant change and adaptation.
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They are places where the person goes to break the pattern of constant change .
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This is very important where there is a constant change of partners.
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Community development by definition is constant change .
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Desires a constant change of people, surroundings or things.
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Where there used to be stability, now there is constant change .
companion
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Lets hope Community Care will be a constant companion and source of support to Thompson in the future.
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I hardly ever see a fish so large anymore, which were my constant companions when I began diving.
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His responsibilities and favours escalated and he was soon her personal attendant and constant companion .
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Adolescent Egocentrism Egocentrism is a constant companion of cognitive development.
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Poor, beautiful Johnny ... As the next day or two dragged by, fear became Cassie's almost constant companion .
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They became constant companions and Corbett often found them playing cat's-cradle in some comer or window embrasure.
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A Lungfish is my constant companion in and out of the fishhouse Least favourite species and why?
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Mostly, she was off; travelling the world with Mr Gibbon, her constant companion for twenty-nine of those thirty years.
demand
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The one book in constant demand is his London.
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Such a transportation system will exert a constant demand for fuel both at the space station and on the lunar surface.
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Several times she felt almost caught up with the constant demands for her attention.
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Ervin is likewise considered a world-class horn player in constant demand .
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You will find your professional abilities to be in constant demand and you will be directly concerned with the provision of services.
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He's appeared at folk festivals all over the land and is in constant demand for club work.
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And whatever anyone else says, she made Jett edgy with her constant demands .
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Some horticultural staff write excellent articles in journals, and some are in constant demand for public lectures.
fear
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It is a constant fear and flight response.
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They have lived with constant fear .
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Some people live with the constant fear that their cancer will come back, even after they have finished their treatment.
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In 1996 Dave admitted he was suffering from Paradise Syndrome-a constant fear of being ill even when nothing is wrong.
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I also got married because of the constant fear of losing Marie, which really is no foundation for a good relationship.
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Moreover, millions of people live in constant fear of being attacked in the streets and in their homes!
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Plainly they went in constant fear of the Robemaker and the Dark Realm.
flow
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It needs a constant flow of information.
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Without this it would be difficult to maintain a constant flow of fuel to the engines.
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This will give a firm footing and will stand up to the constant flow of traffic.
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There is a constant flow of people leaving the land and going into service and hotel jobs, particularly in Funchal.
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One problem is the constant flow of visitors who arrive unannounced on my doorstep.
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Tiny shops line the bridge, attracting a constant flow of visitors.
pressure
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A safety thermostat controls the water temperature, so ensuring constant pressure to give a consistent jet of cleansing steam.
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She initially refused, but ultimately relented under the constant pressure .
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It was important to try to maintain a constant pressure in both the fuel and oxidizer tanks during the flight.
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Maintain a little bit of constant pressure by driving against the chimney wall so that you stay still in one place.
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The Survey was under constant pressure to cover as many square miles of ground as possible every year.
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A confined gas exerts a constant pressure on the wall of its container uniformly in all directions.
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In 1787 Charles showed that gas volume varies directly with temperature at constant pressure .
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Helium was used over the fuel to maintain a constant pressure in the tank both at launch and during flight.
price
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The use of constant prices enabled an appreciation of the physical inputs since changes in an amount signified a change in volume.
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The funds sell shares at a constant price of $ 1. 00 per share.
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At constant prices accounting for price movements, this represents a 7.6% increase, comparing favourably with last years increase of 1.6%.
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Since 1982-3 cash planning has replaced the previous system of constant prices .
rate
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The simplest models assume that earnings grow at a constant rate of g percent per year.
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Like all types of radioactive decay the process takes place at a constant rate , independent of all environmental conditions.
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If information arrived at a constant rate in calendar time, the approaches using calendar time and event time would be identical.
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In the whole, as the degree of discrimination increased it was found that reaction time increased at a fairly constant rate .
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If a constant rate of turn is now maintained, the sensation of turning lessens and may disappear altogether.
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The increase has not been at a constant rate .
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The finance cost should be allocated to accounting periods soas to achieve a constant rate on the amount outstanding.
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In contrast, a fixed rate mortgage has a constant rate of interest which is charged over a specified period.
reminder
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True, fruit is healthy, but it's also a constant reminder of food.
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The quadrant is a constant reminder of his limitations.
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The presence of a bodyguard was a constant reminder of the invisible veil which separated her from her family and friends.
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Their victims stand as a constant reminder , both of their crimes, and of the reality they have tried to overturn.
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The inescapable presence of doubt is a constant reminder of our responsibility to truth in a twilight world of truth and half-truth.
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They were a constant reminder that this was no ordinary crime; that 168 people died and some one should pay.
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As she commented angrily to friends later, she could not see why Charles needed these constant reminders of Camilla.
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There are constant reminders that we, too, are animal beings and part of nature, not mere observers.
repetition
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The constant repetition of an untruth did not make anyone believe, but it could batter the brain into unthinking apathy.
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But as experience is gained through constant repetition , each movement of the form begins to flow smoothly into the next.
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Karate has quite a high drop-out rate because of the hard work involved and the constant repetition of techniques.
source
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The squirrels too, who come to steal the birds' nuts are a constant source of entertainment.
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The number of students who had killed themselves and their instructors was a constant source of anxiety.
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Furthermore, the fact that the old person is alone, especially at night, is a constant source of anxiety.
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The nearby water spigot became a constant source of fascination.
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Sometimes a sympathetic friend can be a constant source of discouragement, all unknowingly.
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As you can imagine, this was a constant source of campus conflict at the time.
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This provides a constant source of attention and makes sure that the child realizes that the parent is fully participating.
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The advertising of the scheme and the consequent level of public awareness has been a constant source of concern.
speed
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Two-blade Hartzell propellers are fitted and these have the usual constant speed and feathering facilities.
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The Embraer 120 turboprop is equipped with twin propellers designed to spin at a constant speed .
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One aircraft was fitted with a R-1340 geared engine and a three-bladed constant speed propeller with spinner.
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It is really not too difficult to wave the reader at a reasonably constant speed while it is over the bar code.
state
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Others seem to hear your heartbeat and remain in a constant state of nervous tension.
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Or did the belief in their inevitable demise subject them to a constant state of tension and anxiety?
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It was in a constant state of reoccupation, favoured only by marginal or twilight enterprises indifferent to a fundamentally inhuman environment.
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Although frightening and painful, the actual violence is generally less terrifying than living in a constant state of uncertainty and threat.
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The Edgsons believe that all houses are in a constant state of change, as they reflect the lives of their occupants.
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Guided by the churning within the planet, the crust of the earth has been in a constant state of flux.
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Everyone was in a fairly constant state of edgy anticipation and nervousness throughout the tour.
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During our Mission District store days, we lived in a constant state of fear.
stream
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Her clinic at the John Radcliffe hospital has a constant stream of parents wanting help.
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A constant stream of spoken advice and directions that this child is less able to comprehend will thereby exaggerate her difficulty.
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From it, during her life-time, she ejects eggs in an almost constant stream .
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The constant stream of praise burbling in the background of the class swelled into shouts of rapture.
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I always wondered where her constant stream of men came from.
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A constant stream of strangers roamed the neighborhoods.
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Cook drove clumsily, keeping up a constant stream of chatter.
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Did he want to work with the same people over a period of time or have a constant stream of new ones?
struggle
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Organisational politics involve constant struggles for control, and choices of structure, technology and organisational goals are part of this process.
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It had been a constant struggle for fifteen years.
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We hate the constant struggle to keep order - but the alternative is worse.
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Our colors run together, and it is a constant struggle to keep a neat palette with each hue in its place.
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What is ultimately of most significance in Foucault's work is this recognition of the constant struggles within the definitions of sexuality.
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It was a constant struggle to stay one step ahead of thrift regulators in Washington.
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Its history has a message for evolution: that the existence of any creature is a constant struggle against relentless forces.
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As we have said, television news is in a constant struggle with time, and time is a fierce adversary.
supply
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Second, there must be a constant supply of water to the sward even during long spells of dry weather.
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To make this elitist system work, there had to be a constant supply of visible saints.
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He only gobs miniscule amounts at any time ... and has a constant supply waiting, poised on his tongue.
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Every major site needs a constant supply of this slurry of cement, stones, gravel, and water.
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But they need constant supplies of food and even temperatures.
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Fish have a constant supply of varied foodstuffs, and there is room to avoid aggression.
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Nevertheless I like to have a constant supply of fresh flowers in the house.
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Aerobic activity Aerobic activity is a form of training requiring a constant supply of oxygen to the muscles.
temperature
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They estimated that it would take them four months to build the cells, the measuring equipment and constant temperature baths.
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Thus the plants have a constant temperature in both leaves and roots.
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His law states that gas volume varies inversely with pressure at constant temperature .
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Below the frost line, the ground maintains a more constant temperature of about 55 degrees year-round.
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Under reasonably constant temperature conditions, the prototype unit provided a time period of 24 hours within two or three minutes.
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It emerges from the base of the massive Navajo Dam at constant temperatures and even flows.
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In practice the polymer solution is held at a constant temperature while precipitant is added to the stirred solution.
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If they want to heat the house to a constant temperature of3o0C, they can do so.
theme
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One constant theme often underlies a series of quarrels or rows on seemingly different issues.
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Usually one constant theme related to the shared preoccupation of the couple underlies the seemingly different causes of rows and arguments.
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A constant theme in research concerned with the hospital care of older people is the discharge from hospital back to the community.
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Yet marital relations were a constant theme of controversy, discussion, humour and, of course, song.
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The desire for peace was the increasingly dominant and constant theme of popular opinion.
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Landscape, of course, was a constant theme throughout John Marin's long working life.
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Keeping the focus on the foetus has been the constant theme of opposition to abortion.
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This is the river which flows as a constant theme through the novels of D. H. Lawrence.
threat
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The small village appears to be under constant threat of a landslide from the steep slopes immediately behind.
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They lived under constant threat of exposure and extermination at the hands of the Inquisition, which monitored Christians' piety.
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The immediate past and the constant threat was poverty.
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Individual feelings and complexities are repressed and there is a constant threat of mutiny among family members.
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He was impeccable in defence, and posed a constant threat to the Springboks' defensive wall.
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They governed during the Cold War, with the constant threat of nuclear war.
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Moscow did not falter under the onslaught and their counter-attacking potential was a constant threat .
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The strain of working long hours under the constant threat of robbery took its toll on the family.
use
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Our bicycles were in constant use .
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But it takes practice and constant use .
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The tenement was very old, the stairs concave from constant use .
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Called Tickford Bridge, it is said to be the oldest iron bridge in Britain still in constant use .
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If several tanks are in constant use , fitting them with power filters would prove very expensive indeed.
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It had been discovered that the airfield at Sidi Haneish, near Fuka, was in constant use and full of aircraft.
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They can operate at temperatures up to 1,000°C and very high pressures; and they may be in constant use for 10 years.
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The machine operates by a Start/Stop button, so constant use of a foot controller is not necessary.
vigilance
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There was time for domestic forces to shape a new nation without the same constant vigilance of the behaviour of neighbours.
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I had my routines: constant vigilance , my antidote to the sin of sleeping and the undomesticated world of dreams.
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And it would be impossible to provide constant vigilance at future exhibitions.
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Since Blue is only one man, he realizes that constant vigilance is not expected of him.
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They need constant attention, constant vigilance , like a nursery of children.
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The profession was extremely hard to break into and to maintain a very low weight required constant vigilance and self-discipline.
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What was required to hold him at bay was constant vigilance .
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But there is a need for constant vigilance to avoid abuse and for much greater resources to be channelled to hospitals.
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
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A newborn baby needs constant care and attention.
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He suffered constant pain in the months before his death.
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It is important to store wine at a constant temperature.
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Lehman is in constant pain, and suffers from a severe form of arthritis.
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People under the regime lived in constant fear.
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She has learned to put up with the constant roar of trucks and cars whizzing by.
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The number of deaths from road accidents has remained constant over the last five years.
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The patient must be kept under constant supervision.
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The refugees lived in constant fear of being attacked.
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The winds are constant in winter.
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Unemployment is likely to remain more or less constant for the next two years.
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We live next door to a busy street and there is always a constant level of noise in the background.
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You save more gas if you drive at a constant speed.
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
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I reckoned they would be better off not being involved in our constant battles.
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It took away the normal drudgery of long flights with little radio contact and constant headings.
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It was important to try to maintain a constant pressure in both the fuel and oxidizer tanks during the flight.
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The movements may vary from hardly noticeable choreiform twitches or dystonic posturings to nearly constant restless activity of extremities and trunk.
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The whole process required constant skilled attention.
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There it restores constant returns to scale; it does not do so in our case.
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They were firing an almost constant barrage around the perimeter.
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We should expect to see networks wherever we see constant irregular change, and we do.
II. noun
COLLOCATIONS FROM CORPUS
■ ADJECTIVE
elastic
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For an isotropic material G and K are the two independent elastic constants .
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As Born first showed there are precise relationships between the crystal elastic constants and the interatomic forces in a regular crystal lattice.
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Explicit formulae for the overall elastic constants have not been obtained, however, by the method.
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In isotropic materials only 2 elastic constants are required.
■ NOUN
time
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The time constant of this asymptotic rise is 0.8 day.
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The amplitudes and time constants of these components of the glitch are given in Table 1.
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Replay circuits in which two time constants are combined.
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In most stepping motor systems the winding time constant is much less than the period of rotor oscillations about each equilibrium position.
■ VERB
hold
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The answer is no, because some truth properties and truth relations hold regardless of reference, provided meaning is held constant .
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Supply tells us the quantities of a product which will be supplied at various prices, all other factors being held constant .
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Producers know that they can not hold prices constant while waiting for a quick recovery from cyclical downturns.
remain
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However, test scores for 14-year-olds have remained constant at 55 per cent.
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The styles change, from tribal rhythms and orchestral maneuvers to avant-garde rock fusion; but the impulse toward expression remains constant .
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Clearly food production and consumption have changed vastly since industrialization but the devaluation of women's contribution remains a constant .
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While the need for geriatric trained physicians is growing, the pool of doctors likely to enter the field has remained constant .
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However, Spiteri believes sales will remain constant until the 1998 Winter Olympics, after which he predicts another jump.
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In spite of this variation, daily hot-water demand will remain more or less constant .
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Remember to bring a jacket; the underground temperature remains a constant 47 degrees.
stay
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Make sure that the level of the arms stays constant and that you apply some extra resistance as you squeeze.
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Don't be disheartened if some weeks your weight stays constant .
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
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Scientists were satisfied with this figure, and the constant was left undisturbed until 1975.
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The important aspect of sample heterogeneity and sampling error is adequately considered and homogeneity constants and nugget effects are discussed.
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The only constant linking it all is that it qualifies as, for lack of a better term, neat.
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This constant is important because it fixes the sizes, period and energy of an electron's orbit in an atom.
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Through it all, there was one constant .