FACE


Meaning of FACE in English

I. noun

COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES

a cliff face (= a steep surface or side of a cliff )

Some climbers were scrambling up the steep cliff face.

a grin on sb’s face

He looked at Sarah, a big grin on his face.

a smile spreads across sb’s face (= they smile )

A faint smile spread across her face.

a task faces sb

Given the nature of the task facing us, three days might not be enough.

as plain as day/the nose on your face (= very clear )

be awaiting/facing trial

Its managing director is awaiting trial on corruption charges.

be faced with a choice

He was faced with a difficult choice.

blank face/look/expression/eyes

Zoe looked at me with a blank expression.

cupped...face

He cupped her face in his hands and kissed her.

experience/face discrimination

Government figures suggest that ethnic minorities face discrimination looking for jobs.

face a ban

He faced a four-year ban after failing a drugs test.

face a battle

Paul faces a frantic battle to be fit for the match in November.

face a bill (= have a lot to pay on a bill )

They were facing a mounting legal bill.

face a bleak/grim etc future

Many pensioners face a bleak future.

face a challenge (= have to deal with one )

The company still faces some challenges.

face a crisis

Many families are facing a debt crisis.

face a deficit

The party is facing a deficit of £1.3million for this year, so it must find ways of cutting its costs.

face a dilemma/be faced with a dilemma

Women may still be faced with the dilemma of choosing between jobs and families.

face a dilemma/be faced with a dilemma

Women may still be faced with the dilemma of choosing between jobs and families.

face a nation

There are many problems facing our nation.

face a penalty

He faces a maximum penalty of 10 years’ imprisonment.

face a problem

Terrorism is possibly the most important problem facing western countries.

face a risk

The dominant male faces the risk that adult males from the group will attack him.

face a sentence (= be likely to receive a sentence )

He faces a long prison sentence if he is caught.

face a shortage (= be likely to suffer a shortage )

The refugees face desperate shortages of food and water.

face a threat (= likely to be affected by something )

The factory is facing the threat of closure.

face an accusation (= have an accusation made about you )

The police faced accusations of using excessive force.

face an issue (= accept that an issue exists and deal with it )

Politicians seem to be reluctant to face the issue.

face an obstacle (= have to deal with an obstacle )

The investigation has faced numerous obstacles.

face an opponent

The team were facing their final opponent of the season.

face an ordeal

He faced the ordeal of caring for his dying wife.

face card

face charges (= have been charged with a crime )

A farmer is facing charges of cruelty and neglect.

face competition (from sb)

Website designers face increasing competition.

face cream

face criticism

He has often faced criticism in the local press.

face danger

Today’s police officers face danger every day.

face defeat (= be likely to be defeated )

In May 1945 Germany faced defeat at the hands of the Allies.

face delays (= be likely to experience them )

Commuters face long delays as a result of the rail strikes.

face difficulties

The hotel’s owners were facing financial difficulties.

face down (= with his face towards the ground )

Ken fell asleep face down on the couch.

face downwards (= with the front of the body on the floor )

The body was lying face downwards .

face execution (= be due to be killed )

He is facing execution after being found guilty of murdering three women.

face extinction (= be likely to stop existing soon )

The red squirrel faces extinction in England and Wales unless conservation measures are taken.

face hardship (= will be affected by a difficult or painful situation )

One in four families in Britain is facing financial hardship.

face (in) a direction

The men were facing the direction from which they expected the attack.

face legal action

The council demanded that we remove the posters, or face legal action.

face opposition (= experience opposition that has to be dealt with )

The proposal faced opposition from road safety campaigners.

face pack

face powder

face prosecution

The owners of a golf course are facing prosecution for blocking footpaths.

face reality (= accept it )

It's painful, but you have to face reality.

face redundancy

Up to 300 leather factory workers are facing redundancy.

face ruin

Many shopkeepers are facing ruin.

face saver

face the prospect (of sth)

Now they face the prospect of unemployment.

face time

Here we reward performance, not face time.

face value (= the value printed on something )

The tickets are selling for far more than their face value.

face value

You shouldn’t always take his remarks at face value.

face/suffer the consequences (= accept the bad results of something you have done )

He broke the law, and he will have to face the consequences.

face/tackle/meet sth head-on

The police are trying to tackle car crime head-on.

facing famine

A million people are facing famine .

facing/looking/spreading etc outwards

Stand with your elbows pointing outwards.

fix...face (= put on make-up )

Hold on. Let me just fix my face before we go out.

forgets a face (= forgets who someone is )

He’s someone who never forgets a face .

foxy face

a foxy face

freckled face/skin

full face

In portraits, chiefs were invariably shown full face.

full figure/face/breasts etc

clothes for the fuller figure

have a smile on your face/lips

They all had broad smiles on their faces.

have an expression on your face

He had a very serious expression on his face.

impassive face

Her impassive face showed no reaction at all.

in the face of adversity

his courage in the face of adversity

in the face of competition (= in a situation where you are competing to be successful )

They won the contract in the face of tough competition.

keep a straight face

I found it very difficult to keep a straight face .

kick sb in the stomach/face/shin etc

There was a scuffle and he kicked me in the stomach.

laugh till you cry/laugh till the tears run down your face

He leaned back in his chair and laughed till the tears ran down his face.

lose face (= stop having as much respect from other people )

A settlement was reached in which neither side lost face.

meet/face your nemesis

In the final he will meet his old nemesis, Roger Federer.

powdering...face

She was powdering her face .

rock face

sallow face/skin/complexion

a woman with dark hair and a sallow complexion

sb breaks into a smile/sb’s face breaks into a smile (= they suddenly smile )

Anna’s face broke into a smile at the prospect of a guest.

sb's face is dark/red/purple with rage

His face went purple with rage.

sb's face is twisted/contorted with rage

Mike's usually calm face was contorted with rage.

smack in the mouth/face/gob

Talk like that and I’ll give you a smack in the mouth.

smash sb’s face/head in (= hit someone hard in the face or head )

I’ll smash his head in if he comes here again!

smug expression/look/face/smile etc

‘I knew I’d win,’ she said with a smug smile.

sour look/face/smile etc

Eliza was tall and thin, with a rather sour face.

stand/face trial (= be judged in a court of law )

Doctors said he was unfit to stand trial.

straight to his face (= speaking directly to him )

I told him straight to his face what I thought of him.

tears run/roll/stream down sb’s face

Oliver laughed until tears ran down his face.

the expression on sb’s face

I could tell by the expression on her face that she was angry.

the face of a clock/the clock face (= the front part that you look at )

I couldn’t see the clock face from where I was sitting.

the face of a clock/the clock face (= the front part that you look at )

I couldn’t see the clock face from where I was sitting.

the opposite/facing page

See the diagram on the opposite page.

troubled face/eyes/look

turn sth to face sth/sb

Could you turn your chairs to face this way ?

upturned face

He smiled down into her upturned face .

vanish without (a) trace/vanish off the face of the earth (= disappear so that no sign remains )

The youngster vanished without a trace one day and has never been found.

with a pained expression on his face

He sat stiffly, with a pained expression on his face .

COLLOCATIONS FROM CORPUS

■ ADJECTIVE

brave

She may have put a brave face on it.

Whether in denial or putting on a brave face , the delegates professed to be unperturbed by those numbers.

Newspaper staff put on a brave face .

No one said a word all of us were consciously putting on a brave face .

Her brave and beaming face was duplicated on the reversed covers.

In 1982, despite all our attempts at putting on a brave collective face , we knew we would lose.

He was shattered, though he put on a brave face .

Leaving the court the families all tried to put on a brave face .

dark

It would have filled the count's dark face with fury and suspicion.

Even at that distance, I could see that his mood was dark , his face tense.

Focusing resentfully on the dark , angular face , her heart had flipped over suddenly in her chest.

Her dark , pretty face glittered there in front of me.

He was tall, with a thin dark face and cool white hands.

In the fading light of the patio, Yolanda can not make out the expression on the dark face .

Benjamin, with his long, dark face , kindly eyes and lawyer's stoop.

Reverend Stamina Jones was a tall, stately, white-haired man with clear eyes in an extremely dark round face .

familiar

He voiced their torment at knowing their children would be medically examined without consent and without any familiar face being present.

It therefore seems that he ascribes this voice to a visually familiar face .

It's always nice to see a friendly familiar face .

He had shunned the opposition, reshuffled his government with familiar faces and retained the prime minister many wanted out.

But this could soon be the more familiar face of coal production in Gloucestershire.

One by one the familiar names and faces of the independence period were passing from the political picture.

Social needs are met with familiar faces attending each week and consultations with the same nurses and doctors.

He turned the volume up as loud as it would go and stared at the familiar faces on the screen.

human

If successful, it will produce a deeper understanding of the human face recognition system.

What he fails to do is to put a human face on these processes.

A mountain that weirdly echoes the shape not of the human face but of a human artefact!

Food brought me back to the human face .

It was very far from being a human face .

They become bogeymen, earthly Aliens, and -- despite the fake human faces they develop -- very easy to spot.

To show Christopher the human face of the dreaded development.

Whether a capitalist or socialist approach to development is adopted, it must be development with a human face .

pale

She had a lovely pale oval madonna face with blue eyes and her hair was light-brown.

Her blue eyes are eerily pale , her face pretty and concentrated.

She has a modest expression and a pale sweet face .

Her thick dark hair was swept up in spiraling tiers above a too-thin pale face .

Her lips were swollen against her pale face and the sight of her distress seemed to infuriate him more.

Her appearance had changed since her illness, but there was a strange beauty in her pale face .

Nick's pale face glimmered as he looked up at her.

Not that pale faces are making a comeback.

pretty

He was always a horrid little boy for all his pretty face , and now he's a horrid man.

He could be suckered in by a soft story or a pretty face .

And his pretty face hasn't changed in all that time.

Her dark, pretty face glittered there in front of me.

Pity to cut such a pretty face but she'd asked for it.

Her hair was parted in the middle and drawn back from a round, pretty face .

A young pretty face and an invitation, and he succumbed.

Tis not a feeling of yesterday, to be effaced by the first pretty face which crosses my path.

red

Theda was therefore acutely conscious of one gentleman, rather stout and red of face .

McBride spluttered, yelled, got red in the face .

Mrs Medlock was a large woman, with a very red face and bright black eyes.

He paused, his red face turned toward the blank television set.

She was not a beautiful woman, being tall and thin, with black hair and eyes and a very red face .

He was short, with a red face and a redder nose.

He went very red in the face .

Around the bar, the sweating, red and white faces of the male tourists turn upwards in salacious worship.

straight

How can you say that and keep a straight face ?

Kemp is straining to maintain a straight face .

I keep a straight face and the composure of a chemist dispensing a prescription.

We start with safe conversation and straight faces .

The plot is one that you can hardly repeat with a straight face .

Despite the problem of trying to maintain a straight face , there are distinct advantages to being on Cube's team.

white

The ambulance doors closed out the white face of my recently acquired 17-year-old husband.

Immediately upon their entrance, they were washed by a shoal of white faces gazing at them from behind cold masks.

A clutch of long white Friday evening faces confronted me.

He saw their white faces and felt their cold hands.

His white face was spiteful, threatening and suggestive.

He's got long fair hair and a little white face too.

When she came to, she was in a chair and Jack was all white in the face , looking at her.

■ VERB

bury

Then she struggled up, burying her face in his hand and her own.

With a sob, Theda flung her arms about his neck and buried her face in his shoulder.

Suddenly he raced across the stage and buried his face behind the curtain.

Then with a groan, he buried his face in her neck and began stroking her thighs.

She buried her face in his neck and felt the warmth of his skin against her face.

With a choked sob she brought the bear closer until she had buried her face in it.

change

Ambush marketing has changed the face of sport and sport sponsorship.

Following the Civil War came the period of rapid railroad develop-ment that changed the face of Kansas for ever.

Version 3.0 and the further improved 3.1 version of Microsoft Windows have changed the face of modern Personal Computing.

By doing so, they say they hope to change not only the face of Downtown housing, but the whole economy.

A decade of merger-mania has changed the face of Los Angeles.

But their ancestors had changed the face of California earth.

Like stepping out of your skin, like changing your face .

cross

A bitter smile crossed his face as his eyes ranged over the top men in the giant corporation.

Some sort of unpleasant thought crossed her face .

Nate Cocello allowed a knowing smile to cross his face at what he knew would be the natural reactions of line managers.

A cynical smile crossed his face , hidden behind the lip of the beer glass.

When the doctor saw me sitting beside the boy a puzzled look crossed his face .

A sly grin crossed his face as he thought of an alternative billet in which to spend what remained of the night.

I sat down by the side of Blyth, careful not to let my shadow cross his face .

No flicker of guilt crossed his face , no softening.

fall

She stepped back, shivering slightly when fitzAlan's hand fell away from her face .

As the youth smoked a cigarette, shadows fell across his face .

Then he reached out and drew the hair back from where it had fallen across her face .

But once the ball tips, the game falls flat on its face faster than a top-ranked team after a first-round upset.

How stupid to fall on your face .

As we were going out to the car Babe slipped and fell flat on her face .

fly

She left her head where it was, and glimpsed the satisfaction that flew across Luke's face .

But strong biological determinism flies in the face of experience.

The decades since Malthus's time have seen progress of a kind that flies in the face of everything he foresaw.

And all my frustration was flying in their faces .

I find this hard to believe since it flies in the face of all the principles of wrestling.

Neill triumphantly flies in the face of a long line of buffoon kings on film.

When she was ecstatic, and she was often ecstatic, ecstasy flew from her face like the sun from a mirror.

Whatever the riddle is called, it flies in the face of 3, 000 years of logical philosophy.

lie

It's fantastic, John, there she is, a new person, lying on her face , sound asleep.

I unlocked the door and went in and lay face down on the bed.

Douglas went down to the cells to talk to Marco, who was lying face down on the narrow cot.

A man lay face down, feet toward the center, head away from it.

Now he could see that it was lying face down.

Side by side, the two men lay face down in the grass, feet toward the rear of the pale car.

She lay watching his face as he tried to concentrate on the complexities of the novel.

The view while lying face down, shielding our eyes from the sun with our hands, was superb.

pull

And she pulled a face back at him.

He told me that the oxygen mask had pulled away from my face some, and that I was probably just blacking out.

Without meaning to, he pulled a face .

She pulled a face at the speaker.

He likes me to smile at the camera, so twice I pulled shocking faces .

Her hair was pulled back from her face and tied in a bun.

I wear sweats and my hair is pulled from my face with a rubber band.

At the end, she pulls her face into a lion.

save

I had to do this to save face for my father.

The only person that didn't was Fish, who had to save face and went on claiming it was true.

Determined to save face , I kept devouring everything set before me.

We may accept them, to oblige: to save another's face .

By agreeing to the staged confrontation, Barnett would save face while permitting Meredith to register.

There was an awkward silence which Maidstone might have broken with some amiable remark to save Sandison's face .

As a result of the turmoil, Frank resigned in order to save face .

slap

The door to Joe's house closed suddenly and Nina felt as though she had been slapped in the face .

Vasili shook her shoulders violently then slapped her across the face .

It was like somebody slapped me across my face .

That hurt him almost as much as when I slapped his face for not letting me escape.

When the Chicago creature got Cyd Charisse, I slapped my face for haute le monde to see.

It made me want to slap his face .

Clarisa turned and slapped her face .

smile

People were whispering about me behind my back - smiling to my face of course - but whispering behind my back.

Instead, the smiling face of the popular 49-year-old Gov.

He's smiling out of a rugged face , with thick black eyebrows and curling hair.

He is also a deeply private person whose kindly, smiling face could fool you.

Rage rarely visits that open, smiling face but Massimo was volcanic.

The world of successful entrepreneurs is full of smiling faces and confident attitudes.

He was tall and strong with a big, smiling face .

He is outspoken, witty, occasionally vulgar, and when he smiles his whole face lights up.

turn

Mrs Simpson turned her face and looked out of the window.

We turned our faces glum to reaffirm the forced nature of this trip.

I lay back and turned my face to it.

She turned a terrified face to them.

From the contemplation of this inescapable judgment he turned his face resolutely away.

Eventually, he turns his face to the wall and encounters the photograph of the coroner from Philadelphia, Gold.

She turned her face to him and smiled, feeling pain as she moved her head.

They were all the same, those men, turning away their heavy faces and failing to acknowledge my greetings.

wipe

When they spilled over, she did not wipe them from her face .

Charles and Clarissa made thankful noises, drank a little champagne, and metaphorically wiped their faces .

The man took a handkerchief from his suit pocket and wiped his face .

I wipe my face on my sleeve.

She stood up straight, wiped at her face and seemed alarmed to find it veiled.

I wiped my face with a handkerchief and thought about Barbara Porter.

Fakhru smiled and wiped his whole sweating face on his pyjama front, which he lifted with two hands.

PHRASES FROM OTHER ENTRIES

(have) egg on your face

If we think they are easy meat we will end up with egg on our faces.

Meanwhile, Hutcheson observed that in 1995 all the chip forecasters had varying degrees of egg on their face.

People like me, who believed the firing squad had been assembled, were left with egg on our faces.

a face like thunder

She stood there with hands on her hips, glaring with a face like thunder .

a slap in the face

Gwynn considered the salary they were offering a slap in the face.

And make no mistake: He considers the Padres' offer a slap in the face -- even mimicking such a blow.

Barnes's decision therefore came as somewhat of a slap in the face to these well rehearsed points.

But choosing that particular moment to do it was a rebuff as callous and shocking as a slap in the face.

It is a slap in the face and an insult.

argue/talk etc till you're blue in the face

be staring sb in the face

Defeat was staring us in the face.

The answer had been staring him in the face for months.

The solution is staring you in the face.

He thought he was staring death in the face.

It is staring us in the face.

With only three games to save themselves, Coventry are staring relegation in the face.

blood rushes to sb's face/cheeks

blow up in sb's face

It was kind of funny watching the presentation blow up in Harry's face.

Kristin knew that if anyone found out, the whole thing could blow up in her face.

Auditors some-times miss big potential problems that blow up in the face of bondholders.

But I also fear that this encryption stuff is so powerful it could blow up in my face.

Having opted for a formation that he thought would beat Leicester, David O Leary saw it blow up in his face.

Liable blow up in their faces.

Not only could be, but would be, and the whole thing would blow up in my face.

Nothing of its kind had ever been done before, and it could have blown up in his face.

When the clothes iron blows up in your face.

bring a smile to sb's lips/face

He and Stapleton can associate to their hearts' content and that's something to bring a smile to his face.

It brought a smile to her lips.

Nothing was more likely to bring a smile to his face than being told he was talked about.

She invented a hundred little things to make him happy, to bring a smile to his face.

The thought brought a smile to his face.

Their screams of horror and cries for mercy only brought a smile to my face.

We thank him profusely, and manage to bring a smile to his face.

bury your face/head etc (in sth)

Jessamy buried her face against her husband's shoulder.

She gripped his hands, his shirt, burying her face in his chest, hiding and laughing at her own reaction.

She returned to her chair and sank down into it burying her face in her hands.

Suddenly he raced across the stage and buried his face behind the curtain.

Then with a groan, he buried his face in her neck and began stroking her thighs.

You will notice phrases like crocodile tears, the elephant never forgets, and the ostrich burying its head in the sand.

bury your face/head in your hands

capitalism/communism/socialism etc with a human face

compose your face/features/thoughts

He held out his hand to his junior master and composed his face into a solemn expression of trust.

I compose my face into a smile.

I tried to compose my features into a combination of nonchalance and justification.

They had composed their faces, but their eyes sparkled and their mouths yearned to smile.

When asked a question do not rush at your answer but give yourself a second or two to compose your thoughts.

cross sb's face

A look of horror crossed Ken's face.

cut off your nose to spite your face

If you love him, ask him to stay. Otherwise you'll be cutting off your nose to spite your face.

fall flat on your/sth's face

She fell flat on her face getting out of the car.

The last time I wore high-heeled shoes I fell flat on my face outside a restaurant.

As we were going out to the car Babe slipped and fell flat on her face.

At last, after several near misses, I fall flat on my face.

Because if you don't a fresh ambition or optimistic plan will fall flat on its face.

But once the ball tips, the game falls flat on its face faster than a top-ranked team after a first-round upset.

It is also a nation waiting for her to fall flat on her face.

Writers strive for a universal experience distilled from personal memories and tend to fall flat on their faces.

Yet there are certain composers who fall flat on their face unless the adrenalin really start to flow.

feed your face

fill yourself (up)/fill your face

fly in the face of sth

Eysenck's claim flies in the face of all the evidence.

Anita Roddick has made a virtue of flying in the face of business convention.

Award-winning entertainment that flies in the face of gravity lands in Tucson for two nights only.

But strong biological determinism flies in the face of experience.

I find this hard to believe since it flies in the face of all the principles of wrestling.

It flies in the face of commitments made at the Earth Summit to reduce consumption.

Neill triumphantly flies in the face of a long line of buffoon kings on film.

This flies in the face of the cautious nature of the Bush administration.

Whatever the riddle is called, it flies in the face of 3, 000 years of logical philosophy.

have sth/be written all over your face

horsey face/smell etc

They gave off a pungent, horsey smell, as if freshly cut.

kick sb's head/face/teeth in

But they would kick your head in if you spilt their pint just the same.

It goes with some people wanting to kick my head in.

Lou and Van burst into tears and Hamburglar kicks their heads in.

So they are all there, kicking our teeth in.

laugh in sb's face

I confronted my daughter, but she just laughed in my face.

He mocks death, laughs in its face, and others of his ilk laugh in a chorus all around him.

If she warned Ace what her father expected of him he'd laugh in her face.

If some one had told her what was going to happen she would have laughed in their face.

Instead, have fun with our great £25,000 series of slump-busting contests and laugh in the face of Lamont.

Ryan laughed in my face, which is what I expected.

The next time you hear a native-born athlete complain about adversity, remember Livan Hernandez and laugh in his face.

This is the last in our great £25,000 series of slump-busting contests to help you laugh in the face of Lamont.

When I was four, I told my sister about the Creation, and she laughed in my face.

let's face it/let's be honest

Let's face it, Scott. We're not as young as we used to be.

long face

A long face, hangdog, sad-sack, and dusty hair, reddish brown.

Do they really physically raise a sardonic eyebrow, and make a long face, or only metaphorically?

He was in his early thirties with dark skin and a long face from which protruded a sharp, aquiline nose.

His long face, punctuated by a pencil mustache, is a place of jowls, creases and inflammation.

His eyes were wide-set, and his long face was fair-skinned: seen from certain angles it had an almost feminine prettiness.

Never-ending telly, Mum's long face, and a turkey dinner that nobody wanted to eat, not even Henry.

Their faces slipped through her mind, round faces and long faces, thin, fat, smiling, sombre.

Worst of all, his long face was more contorted than ever in the fury of self-pity.

mobile mouth/face/features

He finds a woman in black lace, with piercing eyes and a mobile face.

I finally found Martin Clunes, the most mobile mouth in show business, lurking behind a large moustache.

They did not show emotions as plainly as more mobile faces did.

not just a pretty face

purple with rage/purple in the face etc

put a human face on sth

What he fails to do is to put a human face on these processes.

put on a brave face/front

He was shattered, though he put on a brave face.

I suppose parents have to put on a brave face.

Leaving the court the families all tried to put on a brave face.

Meanwhile, Llandundo put on a brave face yesterday and struggled to get back to normal after last week's devastating floods.

Newspaper staff put on a brave face.

No one said a word all of us were consciously putting on a brave face.

Whether in denial or putting on a brave face, the delegates professed to be unperturbed by those numbers.

save face

As a result of the turmoil, Frank resigned in order to save face.

Bosnia would survive as a constitutional fiction, allowing the world to save face.

By agreeing to the staged confrontation, Barnett would save face while permitting Meredith to register.

Determined to save face, I kept devouring everything set before me.

I had to do this to save face for my father.

The important thing now was to let him save face.

The only person that didn't was Fish, who had to save face and went on claiming it was true.

say sth to sb's face

I'd never say it to her face, but her hair looks terrible.

Never write anything in an e-mail that you wouldn't say to the person's face.

If you had anything to say , you said it to their face.

It is, may I suggest, much easier to say goodbye to a face than to a wooden box.

sb will be laughing on the other side of their face

screw up your eyes/face

Blake screwed up his eyes, trying to peer through the fog.

He screwed up his eyes against the light and Jurnet saw the gipsy in him.

He screwed up his eyes and put his hands over his ears.

He screwed up his face as the hot water from the kitchen tap scalded his hand.

He screwed up his face at the appalling stench but made no move to draw back.

She screwed up her face and whispered: you're so revoltingly fat you disgusting baboon.

scrunch up your face/eyes

They scrunch up their faces, peering into the haze.

show your face

It was a dangerous place for a non-Italian to show his face.

At this palace, as at the other, servility shows its face and performs its tricks.

How's he gon na show his face?

Not a weed dared to show its face.

Old Harker never shows his face.

She couldn't understand how he dared to show his face after what he had done to Mr Potter.

So you must show your face at their door, bloody and bloodthirsty and raving.

Then one by one the other four women find a reason to show their faces.

Wherever I showed my face, a thousand other faces immediately collected around it.

shut your mouth/face/trap!

slam the door in sb's face

straight face

Despite the problem of trying to maintain a straight face, there are distinct advantages to being on Cube's team.

For the first hundred yards we keep straight faces.

How can you say that and keep a straight face?

I try and keep a straight face, but I can't help grinning at myself.

It was very difficult to keep a straight face.

Kemp is straining to maintain a straight face.

The old trick of keeping a straight face was failing him these days.

We start with safe conversation and straight faces.

take sth at face value

The newspapers have taken this propaganda at face value, without questioning it.

And he no longer took things at face value.

Because Kate, for all her faults real and imagined, was the only person ever to take him at face value.

But now, a hundred years on, certain factions persist in taking it at face value.

the colour/blood drains from sb's face/cheeks

the set of sb's face/jaw/shoulders etc

He hated the set of different faces glaring up at him night after night.

Her husband's brow furrowed as he noted the set of her face.

Something in the set of his shoulders suggested that his pursuers were not far behind.

throw sth (back) in sb's face

It was no fun having my own words thrown back at me by my kids.

A lot of their love would be rebuffed or thrown back in their faces.

My love - my name thrown back in my face.

Nobody was throwing anything in their faces.

This would be thrown back in his face later by North Koreaand sooner than anyone guessed.

upside the head/face etc

He needed a slap upside the head.

wipe sth off the face of the earth/wipe sth off the map

wipe the smile/grin off sb's face

I'd like to wipe that stupid grin off your face.

EXAMPLES FROM OTHER ENTRIES

I could see the children's happy faces.

Jodi has such a pretty face .

One of the faces of the cube has a line across it.

One of the victims had scratches all over his face .

The cliff face was starting to crumble into the sea.

There were many unsuccessful attempts to climb the North Face of Mount Everest.

We climbed the north face of Mount Rainier.

EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS

Breeze looked up, meaning to expostulate, but was silenced by what she saw in her sister's face .

His face was a mask, friendly, but in an impersonal way.

His face was like wax and his eyes stared like a doll's.

I kissed her face , which was moist and feverish.

I want to see dozens and dozens of strange faces.

It's weird, but when she's asleep she looks real young, even though her face is all puffy.

She is one of the many faces of poverty; she is one of the many faces of the welfare system.

II. verb

COLLOCATIONS FROM CORPUS

■ NOUN

challenge

If the previous chapter of this Report is taken seriously, however, there is a challenge which faces us all.

However, the biggest challenge we face today is a willingness by some in the entertainment industry to produce whatever sells.

We are all out of date in relation to the challenges that we face in our work. 2.

The challenge they faced was more complex.

The challenge facing large organizations of all types is to reduce the time among these three stages.

But the biggest challenge many entrepreneurs face is the temptation to go off-track.

Breaking out of that isolation may be one of the greatest challenges now facing our imagination.

There is a challenge facing the church.

charge

Former justice minister Tzahi Hanegbi faces indictment on corruption charges .

He now faces charges of having abused his power while in office.

Car drivers are likely to find themselves facing a daily charge of £5 to enter the capital from late next year.

Flynn will not face criminal charges in the case, the sources said.

He may now face the criminal charge of assault.

The younger boy faces a similar charge in the juvenile criminal justice system.

But properties in bands C-H would face higher charges .

He faces charges stemming from accusations made by several trainees.

choice

The judge's decision can not be over-turned, and it leaves Exxon facing some unappealing choices .

Even knowledgeable thrift presidents felt they faced a choice be-tween rape and slow suicide.

Leapor is faced with a choice between her job and her poetry.

He also faces a choice of methods.

This often applies where a patient is faced by alternative choices .

Anyone concerned with selecting a class book for teaching a language will face a wide choice of texts.

competition

The offer will face scrutiny under competition rules.

As the new version of Navigator goes on sale Friday, Netscape is facing the toughest competition of its young life.

But there's one area where she faces no competition .

The planned deregulation has bred concern that Petron will face stiffer competition and an erosion of its 42 percent market share.

Will those relying on the home market, particularly in the public sector, be ready to face the new competition ?

The company was facing stiff competition and losing market share.

Most sectors face aggressive competition , rapidly changing customer needs and fashions, and further technical change.

The company will face stiff competition from financial service and technology companies in the growing field of electronic commerce.

consequence

But he claimed they were well aware they were breaking the law and were prepared to face the consequences .

They are facing the consequences of having allowed, and encouraged, the entry of a new class of member.

Otherwise Congress would have to face the consequences of automatic across-the-board cuts under the Gramm-Rudman-Hollings budget deficit reduction law.

This was her final act of spite, to take the piece and leave Paige to face the consequences .

He would have to face the consequences of his actions.

Could Eddie have run out of that corner deliberately because he couldn't face the consequences of his gambling?

As far as sin is concerned, we must bin it or face the consequences .

country

Campaigners argue that poor countries faced with a health emergency have a right under international trade legislation to buy generic drugs.

The country faces a pivotal presidential election in June in which the choice is quite simply to go forward or regress.

Other Western countries face the same problem of natural monopoly in these industries.

Other countries have had to face up to that problem.

The country must face this epidemic as a unified society.

This country faces an enormous crisis which stretches wider and deeper than the recession.

Since all countries will face the same implicit prices, differences in relative production can be predicted from factor endowments.

crisis

The issues we are facing in the present crisis of faith touch on what I call the Square One Principle.

Bob Dole faced a crisis in 1972.

The Third World faces an energy crisis even without the problems posed by global warming.

This country faces an enormous crisis which stretches wider and deeper than the recession.

Social Security is not facing a crisis .

And just as well, because yesterday's press was perhaps the worst a prime minister has faced since the Suez crisis .

Some opponents of the tax cut also argue that California faces a long-term budget crisis .

danger

The Safety Centre features full size mock-ups of nearly every danger a child could face including house fires and high speed trains.

The women there said Tuesday they acknowledge the danger they face every day.

The outrage eagerly orchestrated by the newspaper did not focus in a serious way on the needs and dangers facing rape survivors.

Embark on a journey through time, reliving the dangers and excitement that faced smugglers in times past.

The trouble is they've never had to face anything like the dangers you face.

Mourning also helps us to see the dangers facing our planet.

The only financial bonus for the dangers they face is an environmental allowance of £1.14p a day.

difficulty

What this discussion reveals is the difficulty that the consumer faces in making a rational decision when it comes to sport.

The novels of Charles Dickens contain moving descriptions of the terrible difficulties people faced during this time.

These were somewhat unrealistic proposals in the light of the existing staffing and resource difficulties already facing the mental health service.

Irwin compared Davis' experiences on parole to his own studies into the difficulties that convicts face when they are freed.

Some of the main difficulties faced by new care assistants are discussed below.

The difficulty faced by Bovis was that Braehead had various cross claims.

dilemma

This was the dilemma facing the producers of the film Apollo 13.

Think, for example, of the dilemma that Dave faced when he replaced George at the low-performing brokerage.

The following user describes the dilemma that faced his parents: Well, she was devastated and me dad.

This is the dilemma she faces .

It is also typical of the dilemma facing the new regime.

What Clinton did with the veterans' budget illustrates the dilemma the White House faces with many politically sensitive constituencies.

They bring into focus the dilemmas facing anthropologists who do research in their home territory.

Finally, conflict highlights a painful dilemma facing managers who chair meetings.

fact

She had to face the fact that she still missed him.

It was anguishing to face the fact that, all other options tried, reconciliation still did not occur.

If you are facing the facts in your relationship or that of some one close to you, be encouraged.

He was very soon to be forced to face the fact that things had moved on since 1939.

Thus, those who are committed to caring for and working with old people have first to face two facts .

To some, killing is a way of life, whether you want to face that fact or not.

He admired Machiavelli for recognizing that sometimes our ends are mutually exclusive and for facing that fact unblinkingly.

future

But as she lapped up the five-star treatment on the champagne Concorde flight, angry pensioners were facing a bleak future .

Kevin Smith, still recuperating from a ruptured Achilles' tendon, faces a future very much in doubt.

His marriage has broken up, he rarely sees his teenage daughter and he faces a bleak future .

Lefors, founded in 1900 as the Gray County seat, long has faced an uncertain future .

They also warn that some leading hospitals may face an uncertain future if they lose patients to outside bidders.

Exports to the United States faced an uncertain future because of the rise in costs.

Not only is he facing an uncertain future , he is being forced to behave in an uncharacteristic fashion every day.

As we consider the dream of Jacob we find a man who stood alone and facing an uncertain future .

issue

The issues we are facing in the present crisis of faith touch on what I call the Square One Principle.

The Republican senator established the task force to help build consensus and draft legislation on issues facing rural areas of the state.

As with so many of the environmental issues that face us now, every little helps.

Relocation is one of the big issues facing the San Francisco Housing Authority.

That is ultimately the issue facing Britain.

The teaching checklist 3 in the Appendix epitomizes some of the issues he faces .

This Summit meeting was supposed to solve critical issues facing the Lakers and Houston Rockets.

music

Constance knew the time had come to face the music and speak to Nora.

Now she can face the music .

We gently persuaded them to do the right thing and come back to face the music .

It was hard to believe that it was almost time to face the music .

I had to face the music , I had to face myself.

Read in studio Still to come on Central News, facing the music .

It was not just Diana who had to face the music but her parents as well.

They can't tell us how to live and not face the music when their own conduct is questioned.

opposition

Voice over However that party is facing strong opposition from people living in nearby Wavenden.

But they face opposition from a lobbying powerhouse of credit card companies, banks, auto companies and retail chains.

Despite appearances, it does not face popular opposition to reform itself.

That bill, approved Wednesday afternoon on a 64-32 vote, still faces significant opposition in the House and from President Clinton.

Union leaders warned that the group's attempt to cut jobs could face stiff opposition .

Gramm faces token opposition in the Republican primary scheduled for March 12.

The Government faces opposition from its backbenches on the question of quality.

The reforms will have to be passed by the national conference where they will face considerable opposition .

pressure

As the most expensive section of the labour force, middle-aged workers have faced very severe pressures to terminate their employment.

But it was clear he would face mounting pressure to intervene from not only congressional leaders but travelers.

Many fishermen have done well in recent years but they now face great pressure on the fish stocks.

And I knew it was a diversity facing pressures of unprecedented scale.

Mr Lamont declared the Tories stuck to their election pledges but he faces immense pressure to balance the books.

Hospitals industrywide have been facing pressures from insurers to cut costs amid declining patient stays.

State-owned enterprises are believed to face pressures to select profit-reducing choices where, for example, price rises are politically sensitive.

He faces mounting public pressure to resign.

problem

We now have another citizens charter that addresses the direct problems faced by the people of this country.

That attitude is the biggest problem facing the government agency responsible for ferreting out discrimination.

She also had been able to put her feelings on hold as she concentrated on the problems facing her.

Censorship is hardly the worst problem facing Hong Kong filmmakers.

But there were many problems to be faced .

Perhaps another way to under-stand the problem we face is to take a simple example.

One of the problems they face , however, is that hotels have a relatively long pay-back period.

Two other big problems facing the organisers are crowd and traffic control.

prospect

Britain faced the prospect of a winter without food and without energy, at the mercy of powerful unions and ineffective employers.

But now they face eviction and the prospect of unemployment.

Some face the prospect of living on the margins for years because of U.S. visa limits and backlogs.

If the Bill is outvoted, we are faced with dire prospects .

But I could not face the prospect of this task.

With only 9,000 tickets allocated to the county, many are faced with the prospect of watching the big match on television.

Pleasant though he was, Amelie couldn't face the prospect of making small talk with him and Madame.

question

Four cabinet members were facing questions last night about their part in the fiasco.

He faced questions from 17 organisations all keen to exploit, inconsistencies in the department's published evidence.

Instead of a warm and fuzzy public relations tour during campaign season, she now faces endless questions about supposed hanky-panky.

As we face the issues and questions which are before each of us now, do we know why we believe?

McInerney faces these questions through Patrick, who is the most recent of a line of self-deprecating McInerney narrators.

Ultimately, politicians will have to face the questions raised and deal with them.

However, we are then faced with the question of what we are to understand by autonomy.

sea

It seemed as if she was facing a sea of glittering gowns.

The other side faced the open sea .

Brighton Marina, luxury 2 bedroom, 2 bathroom apartments facing sea and boats.

She pointed him to a bridge table set up to face the sea .

She faced out to sea and saw nothing but the impression of Fernando's tortured features before her misty eyes.

He turned to face the sea .

One stands naked facing front with her arms raised around her head which turns to face the sea .

Sepulchers face the sea , as on the mainland, but on this tiny island death seems everywhere.

situation

Mr Davies, in his letter to staff, says the council is facing a serious financial situation .

When faced with similar situations in the future, why not give yourself prior warning by asking the following question?

Years of army training had taught him to be cautious when faced with an unknown situation .

None of these young States faced a simple situation .

A distillery that wanted to launch a new brand of whisky would face this situation .

Like all sheep farmers, Peter Capener in Staffordshire faced this situation ... until he installed two 3W infra-red heaters.

When faced with a certain situation in wartime, they simply called on extraordinary resources.

task

It is difficult to remember the scale of the task facing us then.

But they illustrate the second key task facing public schools: how to increase the academic content and standards for all students.

That is the task facing us.

Grappling with the many varied problems of the nineteenth century, it tackled innumerable tasks and faced innumerable obstacles.

That's the biggest and most urgent task facing the restorers, a company from Hay on Wye.

He radiated quiet enthusiasm about the task facing him on any large steel-framed building.

But ensuring it does is one of the most important tasks facing Mr Major in the aftermath of his election victory.

One of the tasks facing all freshmen is to figure out ways to counter this loneliness.

threat

Whalers face the threat of government reprisals should they start a commercial hunt which has been banned since 1985.

We face no imminent threat , but we do have an enemy.

They themselves face the threat of social unrest over the coming factory closures.

Its cold-blooded use by cops facing no threat to themselves is plainly inhumane.

Never before were they faced with the threat of losing substantial numbers of accounts.

Augustine says some of those patients may be facing collection agency threats .

The 45 grammar schools among them face the additional threat of comprehensive reorganisation, or closure.

truth

If we had more courage at Goodison in facing up to the truth unpalatable though it may be things might begin to improve.

It was a thing of a different sort to face the truth .

Humane destruction is not easy to face , but fear of the unknown is often far worse than facing the truth .

Sometimes folks have to face ugly, nasty truths about themselves.

Suddenly, she felt lighter of heart, ready to face the truth she had long denied herself.

The long incubation period means that no Third World country has yet faced the full truth of what is to come.

In his view Fraser had delayed because he didn't want to face the truth .

■ VERB

stand

She then stood sombrely facing the memorial while the regimental band played Land of My Fathers.

He stood , facing me on the bed.

As we consider the dream of Jacob we find a man who stood alone and facing an uncertain future.

Primo and the man stand facing the crowd.

They stood facing each other for a moment in silence.

He stood facing the wall where the lizard stains were, rubbing the back of his neck.

Now it was lit luridly in green and the puppet in the white ballet dress was standing upright facing them.

I got up and came into the room and we stood facing each other.

turn

She turned to face the shop window.

He was on the trail of a stag, which turned to face him.

It can not move and shoot in the same turn , except that it can be turned to face its intended target.

But then I turned back, facing the road before us.

He turned to face the ocean.

It is sad that he could not have been turned soas to face his favourite church.

They turned to face us, and the sight of them did nothing for our confidence.

PHRASES FROM OTHER ENTRIES

(have) egg on your face

If we think they are easy meat we will end up with egg on our faces.

Meanwhile, Hutcheson observed that in 1995 all the chip forecasters had varying degrees of egg on their face.

People like me, who believed the firing squad had been assembled, were left with egg on our faces.

a face like thunder

She stood there with hands on her hips, glaring with a face like thunder .

a slap in the face

Gwynn considered the salary they were offering a slap in the face.

And make no mistake: He considers the Padres' offer a slap in the face -- even mimicking such a blow.

Barnes's decision therefore came as somewhat of a slap in the face to these well rehearsed points.

But choosing that particular moment to do it was a rebuff as callous and shocking as a slap in the face.

It is a slap in the face and an insult.

argue/talk etc till you're blue in the face

capitalism/communism/socialism etc with a human face

fall flat on your/sth's face

She fell flat on her face getting out of the car.

The last time I wore high-heeled shoes I fell flat on my face outside a restaurant.

As we were going out to the car Babe slipped and fell flat on her face.

At last, after several near misses, I fall flat on my face.

Because if you don't a fresh ambition or optimistic plan will fall flat on its face.

But once the ball tips, the game falls flat on its face faster than a top-ranked team after a first-round upset.

It is also a nation waiting for her to fall flat on her face.

Writers strive for a universal experience distilled from personal memories and tend to fall flat on their faces.

Yet there are certain composers who fall flat on their face unless the adrenalin really start to flow.

horsey face/smell etc

They gave off a pungent, horsey smell, as if freshly cut.

long face

A long face, hangdog, sad-sack, and dusty hair, reddish brown.

Do they really physically raise a sardonic eyebrow, and make a long face, or only metaphorically?

He was in his early thirties with dark skin and a long face from which protruded a sharp, aquiline nose.

His long face, punctuated by a pencil mustache, is a place of jowls, creases and inflammation.

His eyes were wide-set, and his long face was fair-skinned: seen from certain angles it had an almost feminine prettiness.

Never-ending telly, Mum's long face, and a turkey dinner that nobody wanted to eat, not even Henry.

Their faces slipped through her mind, round faces and long faces, thin, fat, smiling, sombre.

Worst of all, his long face was more contorted than ever in the fury of self-pity.

mobile mouth/face/features

He finds a woman in black lace, with piercing eyes and a mobile face.

I finally found Martin Clunes, the most mobile mouth in show business, lurking behind a large moustache.

They did not show emotions as plainly as more mobile faces did.

not just a pretty face

purple with rage/purple in the face etc

put a human face on sth

What he fails to do is to put a human face on these processes.

put on a brave face/front

He was shattered, though he put on a brave face.

I suppose parents have to put on a brave face.

Leaving the court the families all tried to put on a brave face.

Meanwhile, Llandundo put on a brave face yesterday and struggled to get back to normal after last week's devastating floods.

Newspaper staff put on a brave face.

No one said a word all of us were consciously putting on a brave face.

Whether in denial or putting on a brave face, the delegates professed to be unperturbed by those numbers.

straight face

Despite the problem of trying to maintain a straight face, there are distinct advantages to being on Cube's team.

For the first hundred yards we keep straight faces.

How can you say that and keep a straight face?

I try and keep a straight face, but I can't help grinning at myself.

It was very difficult to keep a straight face.

Kemp is straining to maintain a straight face.

The old trick of keeping a straight face was failing him these days.

We start with safe conversation and straight faces.

take sth at face value

The newspapers have taken this propaganda at face value, without questioning it.

And he no longer took things at face value.

Because Kate, for all her faults real and imagined, was the only person ever to take him at face value.

But now, a hundred years on, certain factions persist in taking it at face value.

the set of sb's face/jaw/shoulders etc

He hated the set of different faces glaring up at him night after night.

Her husband's brow furrowed as he noted the set of her face.

Something in the set of his shoulders suggested that his pursuers were not far behind.

upside the head/face etc

He needed a slap upside the head.

EXAMPLES FROM OTHER ENTRIES

Courtney's apartment faces the harbour.

Dean turned to face me.

He was faced with the task of breaking the bad news to the boy's relatives.

If found guilty, Jones could face up to 20 years in jail.

Latin America faces a growing debt problem.

McManus knew he was facing the biggest challenge of his career.

My house faces the bay.

The Jets face the Dolphins in two weeks.

The new administration faces the difficult task of rebuilding the country's economy.

The seat facing mine was empty.

They stood facing each other for a few minutes.

This report highlights some of the problems faced by learners of English.

Today's violence highlights the problems faced by the government here.

UCLA will face North Carolina tonight at Pauley Pavilion.

Weber is facing the biggest challenge of his career.

You're going to have to face her sooner or later.

EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS

As at all his power stations, Scott faced the building in a fine Worcestershire brick that has weathered to a lovely pinky-brown.

Bedworth, now 19, is facing charges under the Computer Misuse Act, 1990.

Caught in a green translucent wave were two tiny sea-horses facing in opposite directions, one frolicking, the other melancholy.

Hughes was the second prominent researcher at Georgetown to face problems because of reproductive research.

She stood straight as a wand, facing us.

The crying continued after that, and continues, but now with other parents who face the same kinds of problems.

They served notice that conservative nominees face delay or worse.

We had to sit with our backs to the wall, facing the door.

Longman DOCE5 Extras English vocabulary.      Дополнительный английский словарь Longman DOCE5.