I. adjective
COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES
a dim/distant memory (= not clear, from a long time ago )
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He had only dim memories of his father, who had died when he was four.
a vague/dim outline (= difficult to see )
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I could just make out a vague outline of a barn.
dim (= not bright )
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Gradually her eyes became accustomed to the dim light.
in the dim and distant past humorous (= a long time ago )
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Back in the dim and distant past when I was at school, computers didn’t exist.
in the dim and distant past (= a very long time ago )
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I think she sang Ireland's entry in the Eurovision Song Contest sometime in the dim and distant past.
subdued/dim/soft lighting (= lighting that is not very bright )
the dim and distant future (= a very long time from now )
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He plans to get married in the dim and distant future.
COLLOCATIONS FROM CORPUS
■ ADVERB
too
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The light was too dim , the newsprint wavered, the words blurred together.
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For all but the larger instruments, it is too dim .
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It had been refitted with a low-watt bulb practically too dim to see by, in order to save electricity.
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Thankfully he was too dim to perceive the effect he had on his beloved and puffed smoke lovingly at every sourness.
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And when it becomes too dim , it must be abandoned and replaced.
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I looked at the altimeter, but it was too dim to read.
very
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The shape of Cancer always reminds me of a very dim and ghostly Orion.
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The voices had become very dim , barely audible; but something else had grown penetratingly strong.
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He felt at bay, like a very dim minister facing a hostile House.
■ NOUN
glow
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Outlined against the dim glow from outside, his tall silhouette filled the open doorway.
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Its dim glow came from Baby Suggs' room.
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The dim glow of passing headlights makes his shaved head and the shades propped on top of it shine.
light
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Flickering beams of dim light came with it, caressing the machinery which shielded their source from direct view.
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Only a dim light glowed in the direction of the stairs.
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The two men looked at each other in the dim light , their faces grey and weary.
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No one dared to object to him directly about his dim light , though some people grumbled about it in loud whispers.
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In the dim light she could just make out some moving shapes.
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The always dim lights were not working, but the soldiers no longer shone their flashlights into our faces.
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At the moment it was half open, the dim light in the hall looking cool and restful after the outside glare.
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They sat at the table in dim light going over pronunciations.
memory
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His own father had died when he was four and he had only dim memories of him.
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It arouses dim memories of that tragic time when the flow of milk ceased for the child, when he was weaned.
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A dim memory teased the back of her mind.
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In the end only a dim memory of them was left.
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Antoinette had once or twice talked of it, and Thérèse herself had one or two dim memories of that time.
recollection
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My dim recollection was that there was discussion of such questions in Mary Shelley's novel.
sum
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Most of the dim sum is priced at $ 2 or $ 3.
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Uncle Shim brought high-tea lunches, dim sum , for us.
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Dim Sum Dictionary A word about dim sum in general: It is not for people who must know every ingredient.
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Louise Renne, who ran unopposed for city attorney, threw a dim sum party for successful treasurer candidate Susan Leal.
view
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Now, Pearce takes a pretty dim view of this kind of behaviour.
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The tendency of bureaucrats to take a dim view of whistle-blowers is particularly marked in the military.
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I hope that the Minister is not back-tracking on them because we would take a dim view of that.
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This was a particularly flimsy sounding rationale coming from Martinez, who took such a dim view of his students' prospects.
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But let's assume that as a reader of this paper you take a dim view of these matters.
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Most workers instinctively know this and, in most circumstances, take a dim view of union organizing efforts.
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The source also revealed the dim view of the sale plan being taken by the Museums and Galleries Commission.
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Science is a highly disciplined industry that has traditionally taken a very dim view of emotional expression.
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
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Dying embers gave out a dim glow in the hearth.
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For many students the 1970s are dim history.
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He saw the dim outline of the taxi-driver's head inside the cab.
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I'm playing a guy who's well-meaning but kind of dim .
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I was led through a dim hallway to his office.
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It was impossible to read by the dim light of the fire.
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She's not the brightest kid in the class -- in fact, she's quite dim .
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The boy's just a little dim .
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The lights were dim .
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There was enough starlight coming in the window to make out the dim shapes of bunkbeds and rucksacks.
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There was nothing in the room but a table, a chair, and a dim lamp.
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We could only see a dim outline of a ship in the distance.
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
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He turned, his eyes resting momentarily upon the dim , grey shape of the funerary couch.
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His face shadowed by the dim light, he crept out and slipped through a door behind the bridge.
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That first visit when I stayed at the Al Ain Hilton seemed in the dim past.
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The reading light over her seat is dim .
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There were those in the dim corridors of Headquarters who said that his rise had been too fast.
II. verb
COLLOCATIONS FROM CORPUS
■ NOUN
light
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The lights dim and hushed expectancy shudders through the packed house.
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And when the lights dimmed , faux snow began to float down from the ceiling and on to the sweet-smelling soil.
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The dim lights were dimmed some more, and advertisements for local shops and eating places began.
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The lights dim , then go off, plunging the hall into darkness.
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Yards of water round the crooked trees; house lights dim behind a gauze of rain.
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Inside, the lobby lights had been dimmed like the interior of an airplane on a night flight.
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With the lights dimmed , a solo accordion played a brief, preliminary waltz.
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The sun was no longer lighting up the stable and in the window the light was dimming .
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
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Can you dim the lights? I have a headache.
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Her words dimmed our hopes of a peaceful settlement.
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The painful memory began to dim .
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
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By that time, witnesses may be unavailable-some may be dead or their memories dimmed.
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Even the death of Laura Ashley did not dim City enthusiasm.
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Inside, the lobby lights had been dimmed like the interior of an airplane on a night flight.
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Shadowy twilight never dimmed the brightness.
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That gap has fluctuated between about 2. 7 percent and 1. 45, widening whenever prospects for monetary union dim .
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When she emerged, the wall-lights had been dimmed and the polished table by the french windows had been set for two.
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You're surrounded by strangers, your dozy curiosity in their sayings and doings dimming as the house lights go down.