noun
COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES
a central idea
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This was a central idea in Marxist theory.
a clear picture/idea (= a good understanding )
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Some work experience should give you a clear idea of what the job involves.
a gift idea
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Here is another gift idea with children in mind.
a vague idea/notion
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The students only had a vague idea of what they were supposed to do.
abandoned...idea
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Because of the fog they abandoned their idea of driving.
abstract idea/concept etc
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the ability to translate abstract ideas into words
add weight to the suggestion/idea etc
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Recent research adds weight to the theory that the climate is changing.
be sb’s idea of fun (= be what someone enjoys doing – used especially when this seems strange to you )
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Camping in this rainy weather is not my idea of fun.
brainstorm ideas
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Employees get together and brainstorm ideas .
bright ideas
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He is constantly coming up with bright ideas for making money.
brilliant idea
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I think that’s a brilliant idea .
challenge a view/an idea/an assumption etc
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Viewpoints such as these are strongly challenged by environmentalists.
cherish a hope/an idea/a dream etc
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willingness to re-examine cherished beliefs
cling to the hope/belief/idea etc (that)
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He clung to the hope that she would be cured.
conflicting views/opinions/ideas
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There are conflicting opinions on what causes the disease.
convey an idea
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Art can be used to convey an idea.
crazy idea
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It’s an absolutely crazy idea .
discuss a plan/idea
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It’s a good idea to discuss your plans with your parents.
dismiss an idea/suggestion
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Both actors dismissed any idea of a romantic relationship between them.
draw on sb's ideas
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We hope that we will be able to draw on these ideas to develop the work further.
drop the idea
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The project was going to be too expensive so the idea was dropped.
endorse a proposal/an idea/a candidate etc
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The Prime Minister is unlikely to endorse this view.
express your views/opinions/ideas
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Everyone who attends the meeting will be given the opportunity to express their opinions.
formulate an idea/theory
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Darwin formulated the theory of natural selection.
fresh ideas
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We need some fresh ideas .
general idea
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I have a general idea of what I want to express.
good ideas
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She’s full of good ideas .
grandiose scheme/plan/idea etc
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grandiose schemes of urban renewal
hit on the idea of
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Then we hit on the idea of asking viewers to donate money over the Net.
ideas above her station (= higher than her social rank )
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Karen was definitely getting ideas above her station .
implausible theory/idea/explanation etc
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Margaret found his excuse somewhat implausible.
it seemed like a good idea
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Well, it seemed like a good idea at the time.
keen on the idea
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My flatmates want to have a party, but I’m not keen on the idea .
like the idea
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I didn’t like the idea of being a single parent.
nice idea
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I thought it would be a nice idea to send them some flowers.
novel idea/approach/method etc
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What a novel idea!
original ideas
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I don’t think George is capable of having original ideas !
played with the idea of
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After university, I played with the idea of teaching English in China.
pretty good idea
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The police have a pretty good idea who did it.
propagate...ideas
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The group launched a website to propagate its ideas .
put forward an idea
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In 1829 he put forward the idea that the Earth is contracting.
refute a hypothesis/a claim/an idea etc
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an attempt to refute Darwin’s theories
relish the prospect/thought/idea
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I don’t relish the thought of you walking home alone.
romantic notion/view/idea etc
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romantic notions about becoming a famous actress
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Like many New Yorkers, he had a romantic image of country life.
set ideas
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People had very set ideas about how to bring up children.
strong views/opinions/ideas
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She has strong views on education.
stupid idea/question
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Whose stupid idea was this?
the basic idea
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The basic idea is that science discovers the truth of how the world works.
the very idea/thought (= just an idea or suggestion )
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The very idea of acting on stage scares the pants off me.
toy with the idea of doing sth
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I’ve been toying with the idea of going to Japan to visit them.
vetoed...idea
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Jenny wanted to invite all her friends, but I quickly vetoed that idea .
wince at the memory/thought/idea
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I still wince at the thought of that terrible evening.
COLLOCATIONS FROM CORPUS
■ ADJECTIVE
bad
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Here, he will say, is another fashionable and bad idea .
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The data suggests that it is a bad idea if you are heavy cigarette smokers.
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She had no doubt it would be a very bad idea for them to go in search of Oliver and Cobalt.
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Requiring a central bank to support a flagging currency will remain a bad idea after the union is formed, Tietmeyer said.
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Perhaps it wouldn't be such a bad idea to be slightly more circumspect about looking for her.
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A quick history lesson by their coaches may not be a bad idea .
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I saw my first queenie, chomping through a loch, and discovered that laughing underwater is a bad idea .
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Maybe the smoke was a bad idea .
basic
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The basic idea is that the quicker it produces its report the better.
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The basic idea was that using the seat belt takes time, to which the driver attaches a value.
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Its two basic ideas sound obvious, and neither is new.
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The sine function, hyperbolic tangent, and other non-linear variations on these basic ideas have also been used.
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The basic idea , in short, is that the problem of individuation should be approached from the horizon of ordinary everyday experience.
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The basic idea is to make public safety a community responsibility, rather than simply the responsibility of the professionals-the police.
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The basic ideas dominating the educational philosophy of Highlander are two-fold.
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The basic idea is quite simple: linguistic communication is a kind of problem solving.
bright
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A Newcastle school aims to open a shop to sell pupils' bright ideas .
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That bright idea , understandably, provoked howls of protest and is so obviously wrong that Rep.
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Moira was full of bright ideas about the mixing, and some synth effects she wanted me to lay down.
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In May 1988, Tudorbury dealers had the bright idea of fixing a football game with Harvard Securities.
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Angela soon had quite a bright idea .
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Your bright idea could even earn you some extra cash.
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But there's still plenty of venture capital out there looking for bright new ideas .
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Some one must have thought it was a bright idea , though.
clear
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These early months gave him a brutally clear idea of what lay ahead.
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However, investment without a clear idea of the electronic commerce architecture being built would be akin to driving with blinders on.
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She had no clear idea of what a mortgage was.
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What is important is the fact that it expresses a clear idea of what is being tested or studied.
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Is it possible to explain the asymmetry by way of a clear idea of power or capacity, ability, or disposition?
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Gates had always had a clear idea of what he wanted to be: the prime software supplier to the world.
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It is also necessary to set out a clear idea of what role the public and private sectors can play.
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But he had a very clear idea of the manner in which his Council should be conducted.
faintest
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Had Mrs Leigh the faintest idea what an imposition it was?
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I haven't the faintest idea of how to spell auf-wie-der-sein, but that's the word.
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But I haven't the faintest idea what to do.
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That was bad enough but what made it worse was that I hadn't the faintest idea what was wrong with them.
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She hadn't the faintest idea what this thing was.
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He looked embarrassed and said he didn't have the faintest idea .
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Besides, how could she crew efficiently when she didn't have the faintest idea of what she was supposed to do?
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The return to my house is strained by the thought that he still has not the faintest idea where he is going.
general
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Jack has got some great general idea .
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This image then supports the general idea of the duality found throughout all of nature.
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Similarly, although anything that exists is particular and individual, we can have general ideas .
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But I got the general idea .
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Chambers hoped to reconcile those readers with religious qualms to the general idea of transmutation.
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A general misery of ideas and means.
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It was a way of thought based on the general Hellenic idea that salvation is obtained by knowledge.
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The general idea is that the string is embedded in the program or operating system.
good
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But I thought that to have a saint's care was a good idea , even to my Protestant mind.
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The introduction and failure of this project provide a good idea of why a separate black economic agenda has always been stifled.
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It's a good idea if you can organise a space for each cat to call its own.
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Unless one is an experienced aquarist it is not a good idea to try to keep any but the more hardy species.
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It is a good idea to take off the grating occasionally and clean out any debris.
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You will also get a good idea as to how long training will take.
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The old tiger himself pronounced it a good idea , even if his friends had to listen in a state of uncharacteristic sobriety.
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In fact, it seemed like a good idea .
new
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Friction between the generations is exacerbated when younger staff grasp the new idea and their creativity is suddenly released.
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They were satisfied to learn, to come up with new ideas , and to nudge the field forward.
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He encourages initiative, new ideas .
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To proclaim the need for new ideas has served, in some measure, as a substitute for them.
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The designers experimented with new ideas in spatial forms and lighting.
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Mr Hashimoto has been anything but inspiring when it comes to new ideas .
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Surely this is too early to embark on new ideas - obscuring what we have so painstakingly created.
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They know that risk-taking is inherent in trying new ways and new ideas , but that this is what makes progress possible.
original
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In March 1973 the Trustees returned to the original idea of building a church hall attached to the Memorial hall.
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This is especially true of original and futuristic ideas .
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The balance of evidence seems to be swinging away from the original idea of swamp-dwelling giant dinosaurs to fully terrestrial habits.
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What better way to reward yourself for your original gardening idea .
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The original idea was that the library would be symmetrical with the entrance and stairs in the centre.
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They were all aspiring entrepreneurs, but so few of them had an original idea .
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My original idea of telling them together was a bad one.
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They are far from perfect: a gulf appears naturally between their original ideas and their new found pedestal.
very
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Indeed, for many the very idea of attaining a political focus has been discarded in favour of a celebration of fragmentation.
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The very idea of taking drugs disgusted me.
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He rejects, it is true, the very idea of consistency in principle as important for its own sake.
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Dorothy would leave and abandon her at the very idea .
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But I would never want to upset anyone unless there was some very positive idea which we must try.
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The very idea of coming up with something so novel that no one has thought of it is daunting.
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The campaign in the popular press mobilised a backlash against the very idea of the welfare state itself.
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Ockleton, true to his academic training, had been disposed to dismiss the very idea of such a connection.
whole
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In particular the whole idea of a Prime Minister was looked on with the gravest suspicion.
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But it makes the whole idea of the endowment more real to attach a name to the donor.
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But after a few months, I felt completely bored with the whole idea .
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The more grandiose their mad ark visions got, the more interested in the whole idea they all became.
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Slowly we began to take the whole idea of the band more seriously.
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Besides, one young professor observed indignantly at a faculty meeting, the whole idea was degrading.
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Maybe she should postpone the whole crazy idea - or better still, drop it altogether.
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I had been resisting the whole idea of focus groups-when you went out and talked to pickle eaters.
■ VERB
abandon
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This process abandons the old idea that it is necessary to start with a two-carbon feedstock to make the two-carbon acetic acid.
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After discreet soundings, they prudently abandoned the idea , which would have involved a major encroachment upon judicial independence.
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With a sense of relief I abandoned my idea of escape.
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Why have you abandoned the idea ?
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The shadow cabinet decided in April 1912 that it would abandon the referendum idea and return to the full tariff policy.
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Nevertheless, the appearance of Forbes' paper led Darwin to abandon any idea of a separate publication on the topic.
develop
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Imagine writing the books in which he develops these ideas .
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But we can not assume that humans would naturally or inevitably develop such distorted ideas .
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Put briefly, there developed an idea of the pervasive religious and moral responsibility of the ruler.
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Katz and Kahn have developed ideas on how leadership can contribute to the functioning of a system.
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Bird flew high above the simple pop songs upon which they were based, developing new ideas and melodies on the spot.
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Why doesn't Ferry ask instead why some Western companies didn't buy these companies or develop those ideas ?
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Lesser men, together with the conscientious and immeasurably learned John Stuart Mill, refined, developed and organized the ideas .
get
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Have you got any idea of the number of things I have to keep track of every day?
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They definitely should phone a number of people to get ideas from different caterers.
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Perhaps now she might get an idea of what went wrong.
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Then we got bigger ideas and bought our truck.
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Male speaker I got the idea when I was younger and lying in bed.
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Some one gets a good idea , and no one wants to be left out of it.
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And older women the world over got ideas .
give
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To give definiteness to our ideas let us take an illustration from the woollen trade.
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That gives you an idea of how hard it can rain.
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The one Masklin had found in the Store, the one that had given him the idea for driving the Truck.
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The following questions should give you some idea . 1.
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He says you give me ideas .
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To give you an idea of what to look out for, take a look at the photograph opposite.
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Can they give you an idea of the questions which will be asked?
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Jubilant, most gave up the idea of protesting in the freezing temperatures again, but approximately 1,000 persisted with their plan.
like
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But she didn't like the idea that we knew she was hiding something, did she?
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I like that idea , that you remember only the things that you like.
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She wanted to paint, my father didn't like the idea .
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They liked books and ideas , and they liked to talk about them in ways that fostered growth rather than established dominance.
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If I didn't like the idea , he dropped it.
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Henry liked the idea of being a single-parent family.
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Kelleher liked the idea and became a minor investor.
reject
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The Committee stands by the decision in Morgan and rejects the idea that belief in consent should be required to be reasonable.
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But I reject the idea that it should never be changed.
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We have just seen how Kierkegaard rejected any idea that faith could be proved by the appeal to historical argument.
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But almost in the same instant she rejected that idea .
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Brady, however, rejected the idea .
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I know that the House will reject that idea .
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The next day the rebels rejected the idea of peace talks, insisting that he should leave the country.
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More generally, Weber rejected the idea that sociologists could generalise about social structures by using the analysis of modes of production.
share
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Conservation swap Global pollution could be more effectively tackled if countries would share their conservation ideas .
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Have each group share its ideas .
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It will celebrate the successes of science teaching in schools and colleges and will share the latest ideas .
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At the seminar I met a number of interesting people and explored ways we could interact by sharing ideas .
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I wish I thought that his colleagues were beginning to share that idea - perhaps we have an alliance here.
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In those sessions employees have shared ideas that have become company traditions.
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As I notice various strategies I frequently draw the class together and encourage them to share ideas .
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Ask the students to share their ideas for pictures.
PHRASES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
(that's a) good idea/point/question
a bright idea
bounce ideas off sb
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He bounced ideas off colleagues everywhere he went, and they were greeted with enthusiasm.
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Is there some one I can bounce ideas off?
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They can bounce ideas off one another and provide a mutual critique or one another's work.
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We could bounce ideas off each other and share problems.
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You can bounce ideas off them and benefit from their expertise, as they have often been self-employed themselves.
buck your ideas up
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Meanwhile, both Severiano Ballesteros and Jose-Maria Olazabal had bucked their ideas up.
entertain an idea/hope/thought etc
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He had entertained thoughts of marrying her and raising a family, but he entered the Society instead.
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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.
exchange information/ideas etc
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As they exchanged ideas and memories, both felt richer.
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Both sides also agreed to exchange information on a weekly basis between senior military commanders on troop deployments and movements.
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Bulletin boards are a low-tech way to exchange information.
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Children exchange information with one another in their conversations and learn to view events from the position of others.
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He needs to be able to exchange ideas, express moods and emotions.
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Meeting together at a disability arts event can also provide rare opportunities for disabled people to exchange ideas.
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The meetings provided an opportunity to exchange information about future events and to discuss problems of mutual interest.
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There are no formal ties between the national clearinghouses but they maintain regular contact, and exchange information, newsletters and materials.
exchange of ideas/information etc
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Can an exchange of ideas across different languages be of any general value?
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Click on an icon to begin an exchange of ideas.
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Clubs provide education, exchange of ideas and often show a profit.
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Communication problems may occur in the exchange of information and the expression of emotion.
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It does mean learning to cultivate the exchange of ideas and viewpoints.
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Oppenheimer also knew that science can not proceed without the free exchange of information.
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The key factor is the exchange of information to deal with international crime.
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They defined administration as routine communication activities such as paperwork and exchange of information.
form an opinion/impression/idea
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Members of the jury must not have formed opinions from publicity before the trial.
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Among those who have formed an opinion, more say public projects should go on the ballot than not.
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He conceded to Franceschelli that actually being present during the autopsy might have given him better information to form an opinion.
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He was in no state to form an idea of what we were talking about.
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It is the auditor's responsibility to form an opinion on the truth and fairness of the accounts.
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Nor that we should not form opinions or make evaluations.
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So gather information about your child, rather than forming opinions and judgments.
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Yet, along with journalists, poets, literary figures, and agitators, they do help form opinions.
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You should try to form an impression of the person the adjectives describe.
get hold of an idea/an impression/a story etc
give (sb) an impression/a sense/an idea
have a vague idea/feeling/recollection etc (that)
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I can remember nothing of them, but I have a vague feeling of having been well cared for.
have big ideas/plans
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Waller has big plans for her retirement.
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I have big plans for Selina.
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They have big plans for their life together.
have fixed ideas/opinions
mistaken belief/idea/impression/view etc
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A thin, friendly man, he often gave the mistaken impression that nothing was too much trouble.
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Cannabis may have few immediate withdrawal effects and this again may give rise to the mistaken belief that it is not addictive.
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People have a mistaken idea about artists.
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Such a deeply mistaken belief can only come from a citizen of a country with a disciplinarian attitude to politics.
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That can lead to the mistaken impression that the principles do not fit businesses involved in services.
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The foregoing paragraphs dispose, it is hoped, of some mistaken ideas as to the state and progress of sexuality in adulthood.
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The most mistaken idea is that you can Xerox people and somehow clone a fully grown adult.
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This can give rise to the mistaken belief that cocaine is not an addictive drug.
not have the faintest idea
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I don't have the faintest idea what you're talking about.
not have the first idea about sth
not have the foggiest (idea)
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I don't have the foggiest idea what his address is.
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Before I go on, some of you may not have the foggiest what a fanzine is.
not have the remotest idea/interest/intention etc
plant an idea/doubt/suspicion (in sb's mind)
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Their conversation had planted doubts in Dennis' mind about the partnership.
punch holes in sb's argument/idea/plans etc
run away with the idea/impression (that)
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But don't run away with the idea it was all Jerusalem the Golden.
sb's idea of a joke
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Is this your idea of a joke ?
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The dismembered leg sticking straight out of the rubbish was clearly his idea of a joke .
smarten up your act/ideas
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Despite the encouraging figures, the Chunnel has prompted ferry companies to smarten up their act, and offer better deals.
the germ of an idea/theory/feeling etc
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It represents the germ of an idea which someday might explode into a national objective.
what's the big idea?
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Hey, what's the big idea? Who said you could borrow my car?
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
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"I have an idea ," she said. "Why don't you come with us?"
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Ideas and customs used to be passed on intact down the generations.
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Ideas of how society should function have changed dramatically in the last 200 years.
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an idea for a new TV game show
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Do you agree generally with Marx's ideas?
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Here are some new ideas for quick meals that taste great.
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How old is the idea that there is life after death?
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I never wanted to go to Spain. It was Sue's idea .
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medieval ideas about the origins of the universe
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Nobody seemed very keen on the idea that we should all dress up for the party.
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That's a good idea !
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The idea behind the commercials is that reading is as cool and entertaining as their favorite bands.
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The idea of an underground garage in the park has provoked a lot of anger.
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The idea of the centre was to provide a place where old people could go during the day.
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We're trying to think of a name for the book. Does anyone have any ideas?
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We make toys that are both fun and educational - at least that's the idea .
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Who's idea was it to ask him to the party?
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
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As a general rule, it is a good idea not to choose the same accountant as your manager.
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He also uses personification rather a lot throughout the novel to give us more of an idea of what he was experiencing.
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Individual students contribute to the knowledge base as authors and are acknowledged when others use their ideas.
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Men and women alike listen to others' ideas and sympathise with their problems.
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The balanced-budget amendment would be a bad idea under any circumstances.
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Where did the new ideas come from?
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Yet, as was suggested earlier in this section, new ideas were being bandied about.