I. adjective
COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES
in my humble opinion (= used when giving your opinion, especially when you want to emphasize what you are about to say )
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In my humble opinion, he is the greatest sportsman Britain has produced.
COLLOCATIONS FROM CORPUS
■ NOUN
abode
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To think that a man of so many millions should visit our humble abode .
background
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She wanted university endowments to be used to fund poor preachers and scholars from humble backgrounds .
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Republican Presidents of the late twentieth century-Eisenhower, Nixon, Fordhad all been men of humble background and no inherited wealth.
beginning
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From humble beginnings sales have quadrupled and are set for further high growth in the next three years.
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He had no one to envy, for life had been good to him, especially considering his humble beginnings .
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From such apparently humble beginnings a competent operator can produce very professional documents indeed.
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He went on to speak at length of how he, Fakhru, had started out from just such humble beginnings .
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To his humble beginnings in Up Hatherely and his school days.
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From such humble beginnings in a remote Lincolnshire village he was, however, destined to make his impression on the world.
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From those humble beginnings , Oxfam has grown into Britain's largest aid agency with an income of nearly 70 million pounds.
opinion
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Excellently done nevertheless, in my humble opinion .
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In my humble opinion , Sarah is not so much interested in old relationships as new.
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In my humble opinion , he should not be called upon for such justification.
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In Ursula's humble opinion , the ice might start to thaw if you stop being a brutish, insensitive lout.
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Anyway, just my 2p worth ... all very humble opinions of course!
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And my humble opinion is this.
origin
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Sid was always fond of reminding his audience of darts' humble origins .
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In the case of plumes, the evidence for how they look comes from humble origins .
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As a prime minister he probably ranked with Ramsay MacDonald in humble origin and modest wealth.
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A man of humble origins with little formal education, Mr Bérégovoy had always taken pride in his reputation for integrity.
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Dentists have a humble origin , in that they are part of the history of jewellery.
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The list is bottomless, no doubt, but what about his humble origins ?
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Social status, so quickly achieved, made the family unwilling in later years to acknowledge their very humble origins .
pie
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Come and take potluck eat humble pie whatever.
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The Midlanders have been eating humble pie this season, though they deserve better fare.
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Eat humble pie and get used to it mate.
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It was a bad defeat for an opponent who had already eaten humble pie after an outspoken attack on Wimbledon last year.
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The critics of Spinning were swallowing large slices of humble pie after the reformed gelding completed a fabulous Goodwood double yesterday.
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And along with their stirrup cups, they were all eating humble pie .
PHRASES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
eat humble pie
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Martinez had to eat crow when he bragged that the Red Sox would win the division and they came in last.
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Taylor's victory in the semi-final has forced many of her critics to eat humble pie.
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Come and take potluck eat humble pie whatever.
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The Midlanders have been eating humble pie this season, though they deserve better fare.
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
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a humble house on a back street
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Eisenhower, Nixon, and Ford were all men of humble origins and no inherited wealth.
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Scientists say the humble potato may be the key to feeding the world's fast-growing population.
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Stephanie was humble enough to admit that others could probably do the job better than she could.
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Taylor's students describe him as a humble and modest man.
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The school had originally provided a good education for children of humble backgrounds.
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Their father was a genuinely humble man, who had worked hard for his family all his life.
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
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Families cherished their forbears, whether these had lived in humble cottages or in manor houses.
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From such humble beginnings in a remote Lincolnshire village he was, however, destined to make his impression on the world.
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He appears a rather humble man; but he expends considerable effort telling his full story.
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He came down with a First and started his civil service career in the humble surroundings of the National Assistance Board.
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In later years the humble feast grew into a mysterious worship, about which we know little.
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You may not realise, as you watch the humble caddie walk the fairways, how heavy that bag is.
II. verb
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
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All those dreary councillors and their officious bureaucrats deserve to be humbled.
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And making SROs profitable for private builders is a task that would humble Hercules.
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Swansea were humbled 41-10 by Leicester, while Cardiff lost 21-15 to Gloucester.
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This is because balding has helped women humble and silence our male critics.
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Yet I was awed, and even humbled in a way, to confront such an enemy.
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Yet the school offered him nothing and lie had to humble himself to plead with me.