verb
COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES
entertain guests (= have guests at your house or another place for a meal or party )
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Their garden is a wonderful place to entertain guests.
COLLOCATIONS FROM CORPUS
■ ADVERB
even
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He even entertained them down here, but she took it all in her stride.
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I even entertained , though for the briefest minute, the notion of giving up Jasper altogether.
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Do not even entertain the possibility that it will not.
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Nor should we even entertain a strategy so tortuously contrived and, in our situation, so unnatural.
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It causes no real damage and may even entertain .
highly
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It was all highly entertaining and colourful, especially after a couple of days of shows that explored new boundaries of tedium.
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The morals and ethics are obvious, the comedy more subtle and highly entertaining .
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My take on this particular part was that it was highly entertaining .
more
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Cassie entertained more than a suspicion that John would definitely prove to be very ideologically unsound indeed!
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On the other hand, if you attended the other concert, perhaps the evening was more entertaining .
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However, infinitely more entertaining is a gentle stroking on the inside of the upper thigh.
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Maximum public acceptance will require that interactive catalog services have a more entertaining visual appearance than traditional text-intensive catalogs have had.
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But the myth was more entertaining when dull but inescapable facts were omitted.
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The 1975 Hoosiers may have been a more entertaining team.
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If Polly ever entertained more than three people at the same time some one had to bring their own chair.
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Ridicule is a decidedly more entertaining version of the genre with the grace to flash us some intelligence and self-consciousness.
most
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We were entertained most generously both in people's homes and in some of the many splendid restaurants.
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In this era of specialized travel, arguably the most entertaining new publications take a different approach.
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In fact, Holden has long been the most entertaining City Council Member.
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Which, for those of us on the outside, is the 49ers at their most entertaining .
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The most entertaining moments of the debate took place during acerbic cross fires among the leading candidates.
very
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Donna Landry entertains very little doubt that Leapor's poetry is basically lesbian though the case is not argued in depth.
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It was a very entertaining , albeit fabricated, film.
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The plot unfolds engagingly, with some very entertaining video segments.
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One is very charming, very entertaining , very everything other than responsible, and has no money.
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George Lyttelton, father of Humphrey, was once very entertained by a hat like that.
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The best reason for including a Giant in your army is that they are very entertaining !
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Nobody likes to admit that they entertain very little, or that they rarely enjoy it when they do.
■ NOUN
audience
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Radio producers have to remind themselves each week that radio broadcasting isn't about selling records, but about entertaining an audience .
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Perrault wanted not only to entertain his audience , but to teach a specific moral lesson with each of his tales.
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In Hollywood they would be able to entertain their vast worldwide audience in relative freedom.
client
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They wanted somewhere really stunning to entertain clients of a major insurance group.
crowd
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But, in a tremendous game that thoroughly entertained the big crowd , Garryowen played a storm.
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Morris dancers, instead of soap box politicians, entertained the crowd at the revival.
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Before the finals the veterans came out to entertain the crowd .
doubt
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If she had entertained any doubts before, they had gone for ever.
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Donna Landry entertains very little doubt that Leapor's poetry is basically lesbian though the case is not argued in depth.
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Except when he was entertaining I doubt if he ever sat down to a three-course meal.
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He had come to entertain serious doubts about it himself.
family
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Devon and Cumbria, among the worst hit by the disease, were leading contenders to entertain the Downing Street family .
friend
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Diana stays at Highgrove and entertains her old friend David Waterhouse for lunch.
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Voice over Douglas Cox is now safely back at home entertaining his friends with his tales of bravery.
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The government is planning lavish festivities to entertain all the friends that it claims to have.
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Sarah was invited to Diana's wedding and entertained her royal friend in her apartment near Clapham Junction in south London.
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In a good position for watching the proceedings were the carriages of three or four noblemen who were entertaining their friends .
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All of the people who were going to entertain these friends were there to greet them.
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My family in Nottingham entertained a friend who stayed with us for several days.
guest
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They were evidently able to spend unlimited roubles on receiving and entertaining guests from the West.
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She also loved to entertain guests at the farmhouse or socialize at dinner out in the community.
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In truth no expense will be spared to royally entertain the guests on board the Champagne Orient Express.
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There is live music to entertain guests several evenings a week.
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Now what more can he do to pass the evening pleasantly, and entertain his guests ?
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Baron Ferdinand wanted to house his fine collections and have somewhere to entertain his guests .
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What are you thinking of, entertaining guests here in your revolting lair?
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He was in residence mainly only at weekends, but entertained no guests .
home
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Wives of diplomats are expected to spend evenings out, or entertain at home .
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Hence, she may be prohibited from entertaining others in the home .
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Dame Sybil Connolly, internationally renowned interior designer, entertains at her private home in Dublin.
hope
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Most of official Washington entertained little hope of an early improvement in East-West relations.
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However, I do not encourage the hon. Gentleman to entertain high hopes in that regard.
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Most significantly on my sense of a distant but still valid national identity-until then I had entertained hopes of return.
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After this it is possible for labouring poets to entertain far greater hopes of public impact.
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Meanwhile that one Catholic entertained the hope that his freedom to defend the Copernican system might yet be restored.
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Nor, until tonight, had he dared entertain any hope of release.
idea
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Hypocrites! he thought, and entertained a fugitive idea that Bella and Jim needed him.
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There is factual evidence to support the view that Storni entertained the idea of suicide long before 1938.
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To entertain the idea that they are matters which are open to discussion is in fact deeply offensive.
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Even if the miracle happened, would she entertain the idea of living in the Shires?
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The problem is that each of those imputing personality to the state entertains a different idea of what it is.
notion
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She entertained but fleetingly the notion of ringing the Bishop.
people
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Minto was always happy to entertain young people , and the invitation was issued.
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To this point his life was otherwise full of nothing but the petty disputes that entertained church people and bored everyone else.
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No doubt the clients he entertained here were people who expected the best.
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I saw music as a way to perform and entertain people .
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You can entertain people as you entertain yourself.
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If Polly ever entertained more than three people at the same time some one had to bring their own chair.
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You can entertain people as you entertain yourself.
possibility
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So you should entertain the possibility of communicating more complex thoughts by building more complex sentences.
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For a few seconds I entertained the possibility .
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It entertains the possibility of amelioration and even of cure.
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Gilderians never entertain the possibility that people function from motives other than economic.
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Most other respondents categorically refused to entertain the possibility .
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Do not even entertain the possibility that it will not.
story
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In breaks in our work Edward entertained me with curious stories of the old alchemists.
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While Violette entertained them with stories of increasing complexity, Katherine from beneath lowered lids stole occasional glances at Carlo.
thought
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But he never entertained the thought of just walking away.
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How could she, even fleetingly, entertain such a thought for a man who despised her so deeply and so openly?
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To the point where Valerie would entertain the thought that Casey was possessed.
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He had entertained thoughts of marrying her and raising a family, but he entered the Society instead.
visitor
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They had to entertain the visitors and Felipe would not let Maggie slide out of it.
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Trainers at the Wildlife Theater entertain and educate visitors about the animals, and share some of their training methods.
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If he was entertaining visitors , he might not be at all pleased to have her arriving uninvited on the doorstep.
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The museum would entertain visitors to the Canyon with the history of the entire Four Corners region.
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An attractive house, used by the State to entertain foreign visitors .
■ VERB
keep
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If a composer remembers to keep this audience entertained , think what he can say to them all at the same time.
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Mrs Keep entertained with chapters of popular novels.
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He, Eric and I were supposed to keep Blyth entertained .
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Also, hundreds of costumed characters will keep visitors entertained throughout the day.
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Back in the Rathausplatz a seven-piece jazz band of students dressed up in 1920s' costume was keeping a large crowd entertained .
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I keep it for entertaining mostly.
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While no great leap forward stylistically, it has enough chewy bits to surprise listeners and keep them entertained through repeated listenings.
prepare
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Free workers are prepared to entertain a bigger downside risk if the upside on reward matches it.
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But be prepared to entertain yourself: The expensively appointed restaurant usually is subdued and was deathly quiet on a recent visit.
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She guessed these were harlots who were prepared to entertain the men according to their preferences.
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
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About a fifth of their income is spent on entertaining clients.
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An important part of the job is entertaining business clients.
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Being a sociable person, Eva loved entertaining.
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Donna entertains at home on a regular basis.
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I meet a lot of people, but I don't entertain much myself.
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It's Scott's personality that really inspires and entertains.
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Mike often gets home late when he's entertaining business clients.
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This is a easy but impressive dish if you are entertaining at home.
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
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As always, Costas is entertaining and well-spoken, and his monologues are undeniably passionate.
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Eventually this became independent; now it produces sought after family shows to entertain the elderly and to raise funds for charity.
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She entertained but fleetingly the notion of ringing the Bishop.
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Such a call might have wonderfully entertaining aspects.
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The plot unfolds engagingly, with some very entertaining video segments.
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They had a hugely entertaining and morale-building win Sunday, but it was against the Bengals.
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What am I doing, entertaining David Kent in my dressing-gown?
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While no great leap forward stylistically, it has enough chewy bits to surprise listeners and keep them entertained through repeated listenings.