I. verb
COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES
a poll finds sth
▪
Our poll found that 29 percent rated his performance as good.
a species is found somewhere
▪
This species is found only in the Southern Hemisphere.
a study finds sth
▪
The study found that men were more likely to take risks.
a survey finds sth
▪
A survey found that 37 percent of students were born outside the country.
achieve/find fame
▪
Amy Johnson found fame as a pilot.
amazed to see/find/discover sth
▪
Visitors are often amazed to discover how little the town has changed.
an experiment to test/measure/find out sth
▪
We did an experiment to test the acidity of the soil.
astonished to see/find/hear/learn etc
▪
We were astonished to find the temple still in its original condition.
difficult (for sb) to understand/find/obtain etc
▪
That’s rather difficult for me to explain.
▪
He’s finding it difficult to get a job.
disappointed to hear/see/find etc
▪
Visitors were disappointed to find the museum closed.
discover/find a connection
▪
This is the first official investigation to find a connection.
discover/find oil
▪
Oil was discovered in Saudi Arabia in 1938.
▪
How does a company go about finding oil and getting it from the ground?
discover/find out a secret
▪
He was afraid that someone would discover his secret.
discover/find out sb’s fate
▪
He only discovered his sister’s fate after the war.
discover/find out the extent of sth
▪
We were shocked when we discovered the extent of the fraud.
discover/find the cause
▪
An investigation has failed to discover the cause of the epidemic.
disturbed to find/see/discover/learn etc
▪
She was disturbed to learn he had bought a motorbike.
find a bargain
▪
Investors may be able to find some bargains this year.
find a clue
▪
No one had found any clues as to where the missing girl could be.
find a correlation
▪
Researchers failed to find any correlation between the two.
find a loophole
▪
Some lawyers spend their time simply finding loopholes in existing contracts.
find a niche
▪
He had a hard time finding his niche academically.
find a pulse (= be able to feel a pulse, which shows that someone is alive )
▪
To her relief, she found a pulse.
find a successor
▪
Non-executive director John Evans will act as chairman until a permanent successor is found.
find a way
▪
We must find a way to help them.
find an alternative
▪
The program is directed to finding alternatives to oil and natural gas.
find an answer
▪
The aim is to find a long-term answer to poverty.
find an example
▪
We found examples of people being overcharged by as much as 50%.
find evidence ( also obtain evidence formal )
▪
The authorities failed to obtain enough evidence to convict him.
find happiness
▪
It’s a story about a music composer who unexpectedly finds happiness as a teacher.
find help
▪
To get it finished by tomorrow, we’ll need to find help from somewhere.
find inspiration in sth
▪
As a musician, he finds inspiration in traditional music.
find it hard to do sth
▪
I was finding it hard to concentrate.
find it...incredible that
▪
I find it almost incredible that no one noticed these errors.
find love (= meet someone to love )
▪
I never thought I would find love.
find objectionable
▪
This programme contains scenes some viewers may find objectionable .
find out/discover sb’s identity
▪
The police have yet to discover the victim’s identity.
find out/discover/uncover the truth
▪
She was determined to find out the truth.
find pleasure in (doing) sth
▪
I find great pleasure in reading.
find satisfaction in sth
▪
They found satisfaction in helping others achieve their goals.
find sb dead
▪
A man was found dead in the apartment.
find sb/sth fascinating
▪
I found him quite fascinating.
find shelter
▪
He slept wherever he could find shelter.
find something to eat
▪
I got dressed and went downstairs to find something to eat.
find sth exciting
▪
He found it very exciting to ride a horse at such speed and jump over large obstacles.
find sth impossible
▪
He found it impossible to sleep because of the noise coming from next door.
find sth interesting
▪
I found his talk very interesting.
find sth on a map
▪
I managed to find the village on the map.
find sth useful
▪
Did you find the book useful?
find the courage to do sth
▪
You must find the courage to deal with the problem.
find the nerve to do sth
▪
He couldn't find the nerve to ask her out.
find the strength to do sth
▪
Paula had found the strength to escape from an abusive marriage.
find the strength to do sth
▪
Mary found the strength to climb up onto the upturned boat.
find the word (= succeed in thinking of the right word to use )
▪
She couldn’t find the words to explain how she felt.
find work (= get a job )
▪
It was difficult for them to find work.
find your way
▪
I managed to find my way home.
find yourself in a similar/awkward etc position
▪
The refugee organizations now found themselves in a difficult position.
find...amusing
▪
I don’t find his jokes at all amusing .
find...appealing
▪
It creates an atmosphere which visitors find so appealing .
find...attractive
▪
Women seem to find him attractive .
find/come up with a solution
▪
We are working together to find the best solution we can.
find/discover a cure
▪
Scientists are still hoping to find a cure for the common cold.
find/establish a motive
▪
So far the police have been unable to establish a motive for the murder.
find...funny
▪
If this is your idea of a joke, I don’t find it at all funny .
find/get employment
▪
The men hope to find employment in the construction industry.
find/get your sea legs
▪
I felt awful yesterday. But, thankfully, I’ve found my sea legs now.
find...irresistible
▪
Men find Natalie irresistible .
finds...echo
▪
This idea finds an echo in many African countries.
find/seek sanctuary
▪
Fleeing refugees found sanctuary in Geneva.
find/spot/notice an error
▪
His accountant spotted several errors in his tax return.
find/take comfort in sth
▪
He had been through a similar experience and she found comfort in that.
find/think of/come up with an explanation
▪
Scientists have been unable to find an explanation for this phenomenon.
find/work out a compromise
▪
A temporary compromise was found.
form/found a party
▪
The two politicians broke away from the PDF to form a new political party.
found a city (= start developing a new city )
▪
He founded the city of Baghdad in the 8th century.
found a group formal (= start a group )
▪
Mick Jagger and Keith Richards founded the group in the early Sixties.
found an empire (= start an empire )
▪
The Persian empire was founded by Cyrus the Great.
found discrepancies
▪
Police found discrepancies in the two men’s reports.
found lacking
▪
The new designs have all been found lacking in some important way.
found wanting
▪
Their security procedures were found wanting .
found...calling
▪
It wasn’t until Durant was in her 30s that she found her calling .
found/establish a company
▪
The company was founded in 1993 by William J. Nutt.
found...guilty
▪
The jury found her guilty of murder.
found...heavy going
▪
I found his latest novel a bit heavy going .
found...innocent
▪
The court found him innocent and he was released.
found...irritating
▪
He was smiling in a way I found very irritating .
found...true vocation
▪
At 17 she found her true vocation as a writer.
gain/find acceptance
▪
This management style gained acceptance in the 1980s.
get/find a job
▪
Eventually, Mary got a job as a waitress.
have/find a good word (to say)
▪
No one had a good word to say for her.
horrified to see/hear/find etc
▪
She was horrified to discover that he loved Rose.
it surprises sb to see/find/know etc
▪
It had surprised me to find how fussy he was about some things.
make/find time to do sth (= do something, even though you are busy )
▪
You need to make time to do things you enjoy.
mortified to hear/find etc
▪
Nora was mortified to discover that her daughter had been out drinking.
overjoyed to hear/find/see etc sth
▪
He was overjoyed to see his mother again.
please find enclosed (= used in business letters to say that you are sending something with a letter )
▪
Please find enclosed an agenda for the meeting.
seek/find fulfilment
▪
The real joy of the priesthood is helping people find personal fulfilment .
seek/find solace in sth
▪
After the death of her son, Val found solace in the church.
strike/achieve/find a balance (= succeed in getting the right balance )
▪
It is necessary to strike a balance between the needs of employers and employees.
▪
Find the right balance between enough exercise and enough rest.
take/find delight in sth (= enjoy something a lot )
▪
He took delight in entertaining guests in his apartment.
the jury finds sb guilty/not guilty
▪
The jury found him guilty of murder.
was nowhere to be found (= could not be found )
▪
We searched everywhere but the ring was nowhere to be found .
COLLOCATIONS FROM CORPUS
■ NOUN
job
▪
Most students find that the first job does eventually come along, and even that elusive Equity card is attainable.
▪
So they sadly boxed up the artifacts and found new jobs .
▪
Therefore, finding a job is akin to winning the pools.
▪
Under the proposed federal regulation, Texas could not give beneficiaries more than two years to find a job .
▪
He finds that job ads placed in prominent papers like the Financial Times serve him well.
▪
Executives in charge of poorly performing companies or departments generally find their jobs in jeopardy.
▪
Not surprisingly, therefore, with youth unemployment so high, some school-leavers with qualifications fail to find jobs .
▪
The relatively recent outbreak of street violence and protests largely reflect the frustration of young people unable to find jobs .
place
▪
I have never had much time for the more esoteric confections you find all over the place .
▪
She could find a place for herself somewhere and eventually did.
▪
Anne knew Nina could easily find a place to kill herself in private.
▪
I said I had found the place not exactly to my taste.
▪
Uncle Kevin was in a big solicitors' practice: they'd find a place for him.
▪
Treasurer for many years, resigned, and no one has yet been found to take his place .
▪
It follows that this account finds no place for a notion of acquired equivalence.
▪
Deborah had taken a lodger the moment she found her place .
solution
▪
So Alexander left the surgery determined that he, himself, was going to find out the solution to his curious problem.
▪
Firstly, the desire to find good integer solutions so that the enumeration tree can be severely pruned.
▪
Constantly he creates situations for which he can find no earthly solution and his characters encounter difficulties beyond their means to control.
▪
Most of all we need action to find a long term solution .
▪
And worry can work wonders in helping you find solutions to entrepreneurial challenges.
▪
We asked Volvo, famed for cars that outlast the hardiest perennials, to find a solution .
▪
The Occupational Therapist is there to try and help you find a solution to your problem.
way
▪
Julia Hirsch discusses wedding photographs of mixed marriages which must find a way of dealing with two sets of cultural conventions.
▪
In Loreto Entally, however, the community soon found a more novel way of distinguishing the two.
▪
Both of these members of the Rubiaceae family are finding their way into good houseplant departments.
▪
Could one of these have found its way into the ear?
▪
Some colours and wood grain effects are beginning to find their way on to the market, although most are still white.
▪
The difference is that some couples find a way to deal with it and move on.
▪
To help them find a way out of the morass they had jumped into.
▪
Hansel might instead have studied landmarks on the way in, to find his way back out.
■ VERB
try
▪
But, of course, that is precisely what one is still trying to find out - what the words are.
▪
We tried to find one of his friends to spend the night, but they all had other plans.
▪
We arc trying to find out.
▪
She must have been feeling her way along, trying to find the house.
▪
Mum did all the work of trying to find something.
▪
It should only be accepted when everything has been tried , and found wanting.
▪
And as no-one takes the paradigm seriously, no-one is troubled to try to find an explanation for the seemingly anomalous data.
▪
Something in me lingered back-I had a panicked minute of argument in which I tried to find some other way.
PHRASES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
be nowhere to be seen/found
▪
Our tour guide was nowhere to be seen, so we set off to explore the city alone.
▪
She'd looked everywhere for her glasses, but they were nowhere to be found.
▪
Amelia Otis's name is nowhere to be found.
▪
But David Kent was nowhere to be seen.
▪
He had been searching for Morthen, to protect her from his violent half-brother, but she was nowhere to be found.
▪
I patrolled the town for a while, but they were nowhere to be seen.
▪
The prison director ordered a search, but the prisoner was nowhere to be found.
▪
When a game was on the line, Carr was nowhere to be found.
▪
Willie had looked around for the twins and George, but they were nowhere to be seen.
be to be seen/found/heard etc
▪
A comparable tendency is to be found in the theatre.
▪
A similar situation is to be found in other regions of the world.
▪
Further comments on attaching priorities to different subjects and to different levels of material are to be found in Chapter 3.
▪
He was to be found lurking in the band's dressing room whenever they ventured into Mancunian territory, which was often.
▪
It was to be found in the libraries of other leading Virginians: Lord Botetourt, Thos.
▪
She and two of the Aussies then proceeded to the next floor where guest bedrooms were to be found.
▪
The only reference to sustainable development was to be found in paragraph two hundred and thirteen.
▪
These words, in his own hand, are to be found, framed, inside the hall.
find a home for sth
▪
Enter Arizona Greyhound Rescue, a non-profit group dedicated to finding homes for the retired racers.
▪
Now all that is left to do is find a home for the project.
▪
Some other species are hard to find homes for, even for free.
find your tongue
▪
When she came into the room, I had trouble finding my tongue .
▪
She moved her mouth about a bit to see if she could find her tongue .
find/get religion
▪
Nichols found religion during his fifteen years in prison.
▪
I look forward to watching Rainbow attempt to get religion in hopes of winning fair lady.
▪
I wondered at what point he had got religion .
get/find your bearings
▪
It took her a minute to get her bearings .
▪
Ozzie drank his beer and got his bearings .
▪
Pausing to get his bearings , he blew furiously on his fingers to cool them down.
▪
She stopped for a moment to get her bearings .
▪
She was able to get her bearings this way and soon found herself at the back of the house.
▪
They are there to allow us to find our bearings and set our calendar.
▪
To get their bearings Allen once more climbed.
▪
Without stopping to get his bearings , he began walking up Broadway along the east side of the street.
know/find out/learn etc sth to your cost
make/find common cause (with/against sb)
see/find out how the land lies
the devil makes/finds work for idle hands
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
▪
Bodies up to 2,000 years old have been found buried in the peat bogs of central England.
▪
Did you manage to find the house without too much trouble?
▪
Have you found your passport yet?
▪
He wasn't surprised to find the marsh blanketed in a thick fog.
▪
I'd love to learn a foreign language, but I can't find the time right now.
▪
I've looked everywhere, but I can't find my sunglasses.
▪
I found a wallet full of cash and credit cards in the parking lot.
▪
I have a better chance of winning the lottery than of finding a man to marry.
▪
I haven't found the time to read Morrison's latest novel yet.
▪
I really need to find a better job.
▪
If I can find the money, I'll come to the theatre with you.
▪
It's crucial that we find cleaner ways of generating electricity.
▪
It took us half an hour to find somewhere to park.
▪
Jenny found an apartment in Brooklyn.
▪
Luis was gone, and she had no way of ever finding him again.
▪
Medical researchers are determined to find a cure for cancer.
▪
Researchers found that smokers were more likely to get depressed than non-smokers.
▪
Scientists still haven't found a cure for AIDS.
▪
The Blue Moon is easy to find : Get off Highway 78 at 23rd Avenue and go right.
▪
The murder weapon was found outside the house.
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
▪
In a recent survey, the IoD found that 43% of its female members were childless.
▪
One day in January 1950, following a presidential speech, the two found themselves in the same Capitol elevator.
▪
She said she found it shocking that low-level aides in the Clinton White House were allowed to handle such sensitive documents.
▪
We try to find suppliers who still make these things.
▪
With over 30 million subscribers, the main problem is finding a username you might want.
▪
Your goal is to understand these natural tendencies and use your understanding to help her find better ways to cope.
▪
Zen made no attempt to find out what was showing.
II. noun
COLLOCATIONS FROM CORPUS
■ ADJECTIVE
archaeological
▪
The priory guest house displays archaeological finds and a history of the Order.
new
▪
They picked the flowers of the hedgerows and every new find had to be identified in Blackie's.
▪
Dan goes from group to group, checking new finds , pointing out some of the subtleties the kids may have missed.
▪
Their luck has been out. New finds and new technologies have brought more gold into the market.
PHRASES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
be nowhere to be seen/found
▪
Our tour guide was nowhere to be seen, so we set off to explore the city alone.
▪
She'd looked everywhere for her glasses, but they were nowhere to be found.
▪
Amelia Otis's name is nowhere to be found.
▪
But David Kent was nowhere to be seen.
▪
He had been searching for Morthen, to protect her from his violent half-brother, but she was nowhere to be found.
▪
I patrolled the town for a while, but they were nowhere to be seen.
▪
The prison director ordered a search, but the prisoner was nowhere to be found.
▪
When a game was on the line, Carr was nowhere to be found.
▪
Willie had looked around for the twins and George, but they were nowhere to be seen.
be to be seen/found/heard etc
▪
A comparable tendency is to be found in the theatre.
▪
A similar situation is to be found in other regions of the world.
▪
Further comments on attaching priorities to different subjects and to different levels of material are to be found in Chapter 3.
▪
He was to be found lurking in the band's dressing room whenever they ventured into Mancunian territory, which was often.
▪
It was to be found in the libraries of other leading Virginians: Lord Botetourt, Thos.
▪
She and two of the Aussies then proceeded to the next floor where guest bedrooms were to be found.
▪
The only reference to sustainable development was to be found in paragraph two hundred and thirteen.
▪
These words, in his own hand, are to be found, framed, inside the hall.
find your tongue
▪
When she came into the room, I had trouble finding my tongue .
▪
She moved her mouth about a bit to see if she could find her tongue .
find/get religion
▪
Nichols found religion during his fifteen years in prison.
▪
I look forward to watching Rainbow attempt to get religion in hopes of winning fair lady.
▪
I wondered at what point he had got religion .
get/find your bearings
▪
It took her a minute to get her bearings .
▪
Ozzie drank his beer and got his bearings .
▪
Pausing to get his bearings , he blew furiously on his fingers to cool them down.
▪
She stopped for a moment to get her bearings .
▪
She was able to get her bearings this way and soon found herself at the back of the house.
▪
They are there to allow us to find our bearings and set our calendar.
▪
To get their bearings Allen once more climbed.
▪
Without stopping to get his bearings , he began walking up Broadway along the east side of the street.
know/find out/learn etc sth to your cost
make/find common cause (with/against sb)
see/find out how the land lies
see/find out what sb is (really) made of
the devil makes/finds work for idle hands
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
▪
That little Greek restaurant was a real find .
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
▪
Archaeological sources Hardly a week goes by without a report in the press of some find of archaeological importance.
▪
I reported the find to the landowner and then the Coroner, and subsequently an inquest was held on 13 December 1991.
▪
New finds and new technologies have brought more gold into the market.
▪
The find was announced by a Rutgers University team.
▪
The old pine settle is another treasured find .
▪
They reported the find Wednesday in Nature magazine.