I. verb
COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES
a promising career (= likely to be successful )
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She gave up a promising career in advertising in order to look after her children.
a promising start (= a good start that makes success seem likely )
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Her teacher says she's made a promising start in learning Spanish.
an election promise/pledge (= one that is made while a person or party is trying to be elected )
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The government has broken all its election promises.
break your promise
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I’ll never forgive him for breaking his promise to me.
bright/promising (= showing signs of being successful )
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Her future as a tennis player looks promising.
deliver on its promises
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The company will deliver on its promises .
fulfilment of a promise/duty/condition etc
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People are wondering if they will ever see the fulfillment of the government’s campaign pledges.
go back on your word/promise/decision
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Delors claimed that the President had gone back on his word.
hold (little) interest/appeal/promise etc
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Many church services hold little appeal for modern tastes.
hold out the prospect/promise of sth
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alternative methods which hold out the promise of improved health
keep your word/promise
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How do I know you’ll keep your word?
permit/promise/guarantee etc safe passage (to/for sb)
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The government offered safe passage to militants taking up their offer of peace talks.
pledge/promise assistance
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A group of donors led by the World Bank promised assistance to the value of US$508,000,000.
Promised Land, the
stick by a decision/promise etc
▪
He has stuck by his radical plans for economic reform.
take sb up on an offer/a promise/a suggestion etc
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I’ll take you up on that offer of a drink, if it still stands.
COLLOCATIONS FROM CORPUS
■ VERB
deliver
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Buick's robots either failed to deliver what was promised or they broke down.
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Meanwhile, attorneys general from across the United States threatened lawsuits for failure to deliver promised services.
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Yet he could return to Cairo with a justifiable sense of pride in knowing that he had delivered what he had promised .
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Have you assured yourself that you can deliver whatever value is promised in your set of products and services?
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Central planning could not, however, deliver the promised prosperity.
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He promised that the new government he is appointing this week will deliver on the promised benefits of market reforms.
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If they proved that they could deliver what they promised , well and good.
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In reality, integration failed to deliver the promised advantages and had severe disadvantages.
PHRASES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
a binding contract/promise/agreement etc
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An offer is something which is clearly intended if accepted to form a binding agreement.
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But Equitable was set on the Halifax deal and has signed a binding contract for the first half of its proposals.
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However, in many cases the parties may create a binding contract by agreement on the three matters already identified.
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If they can come to a binding agreement, the prisoners will both profess their innocence and be sentenced to two years.
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In general there was the invocation of one or more deities to bear witness that a binding contract was being undertaken.
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It was held there that the parties had made a binding contract, albeit with the price still outstanding.
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The successful bidder is under a binding contract to purchase the relevant property.
empty words/gestures/promises etc
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Hadn't he said that to express it would be just empty words?
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He expected her to trust him, but as far as she could see they were just empty words.
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He listens politely, then makes plausible but essentially empty gestures.
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I tried to make choices, but wound up with empty gestures.
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These are not empty words and phrases, but principles given powerful institutional sanction.
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This is the circus of empty promises and dry press releases that are part and parcel of meetings like these.
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To all these petitions the Crown returned empty promises of redress.
give sth a lick and a promise
vain threat/promise etc
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
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"I can't take you to the beach today, after all.'' "But you promised!''
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I promised Jamie a ride to school this morning.
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I promised the kids I'd take them to a movie.
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Richardson apologized and promised that appropriate action would be taken to fix the problem.
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The government had promised to investigate the cause of the accident.
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
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Anything about the bond market promises to be long and dull.
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Dole repeatedly promises veterans that he would not touch their benefits.
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Have you assured yourself that you can deliver whatever value is promised in your set of products and services?
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He promises himself an easier workout tomorrow.
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Money promised for language classes and business start-ups did not arrive.
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Since the Tory election win in April, Mr Major promised interest rates would come down.
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Tanui promised he would be looking out for news about me during the week.
II. noun
COLLOCATIONS FROM CORPUS
■ ADJECTIVE
empty
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To all these petitions the Crown returned empty promises of redress.
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This is the circus of empty promises and dry press releases that are part and parcel of meetings like these.
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Maybe, but empty promises are not on the list.
false
▪
No fast talking, no false promises , and if combat ensues there's no quarter asked or given.
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Should not the right hon. Gentleman now apologise for the false promises that he made in 1991?
vague
▪
He sought refuge in vague and ambiguous promises .
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The politicians made vague promises about independence.
■ NOUN
campaign
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He had been asked a question on the influence of campaign promises and its effect on the election of particular candidates.
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Their cousin is the campaign promise .
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Mr Bush's campaign promise to work with Democrats gained urgency following the shenanigans in Florida.
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Defense, education and tax cuts are tangible issues for Bush officials that they link to popular campaign promises .
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Gazing into our crystal ball, we see Scott breaking her campaign promise to not privatize Tucson Water.
election
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The Budget also marked a head-on collision between Conservative Party election promises and the real world, however.
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The government is delivering on its 1994 election promise to create 100, 000 jobs a year.
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The draconian Special Powers Act was never repealed despite the election promises .
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There was no more devalued currency than a Conservative election promise .
■ VERB
break
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Four orphans vow to be a family, but come to break their promises .
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Maurice breaks his promises so consistently that he begins to seem a professional liar.
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Then, when he learnt that Felix had lost all his money, he broke his promise .
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Marvin was always doing this, trying to make the President feel he was breaking promises by not following his advice.
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Christopher, who had promised to be home by Christmas and had never broken a promise in his life.
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And a broken promise to a preclear will be taken very hard.
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Maybe they just broke too many promises ?
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Day broke with every promise of a fine day.
carry
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Governments appeared to carry out their promises .
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I would carry out my promise .
deliver
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It will deliver the promises made in the citizens charter to extend the powers of the four regulators of the privatised utilities.
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But Comcast has made the investment and delivered on its promise .
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And in this vacuum of ignorance, terrible practices have been tolerated because they delivered the promise of cheap food.
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Now, the company is poised to deliver on the promise it has used to leverage its future during research and development.
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The bank and the fund are also confronted with pressing questions about their ability to deliver their promises .
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He has yet to deliver on promises such as welfare reform, an overhaul of campaign financing or a balanced budget.
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Will he deliver on his promise ?
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Then John carried it to London in 1735, and delivered on his promise to George Graham.
fulfil
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The afternoon fulfilled the promise of the early morning and remained incredibly bright, clear and warm.
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Draft history is full of players who never fulfilled their promise .
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If the reality doesn't fulfil the promise of the ideals, do you junk the ideals?
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Instead, people earn both through a reinforcing cycle of making and fulfilling promises .
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But there is grave doubt among environmentalists as to whether the Government will fulfil its promises according to schedule.
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Young said he had fulfilled a promise he made when taking the helm in 1969&038;.
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The confidence displayed by the World Bank men and other donors in the early 1970s has clearly not fulfilled its promise .
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Feeling he hasn't done things he ought to have done - hasn't fulfilled his promise .
fulfill
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But what happens if it fails to fulfill its initial promise ?
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The department occasionally receives complaints about health clubs, usually alleging a club did not fulfill promises about its facility or equipment.
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He eventually did, and the film recorded Herzog fulfilling his promise .
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VanLandingham came around and pitched well for a stretch, seemingly ready to fulfill his vast promise .
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Instead, people earn both through a reinforcing cycle of making and fulfilling promises .
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He doubted whether the company would pledge sufficient commitment to fulfill the promise of HyperCard.
give
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I can not give you a firm promise that this is the turning point.
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All listened to him with pity and the two gave him eagerly their promise to help.
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He had made no commitment, given no promise .
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The deep shade and the smell of the pines in the heat gave promise of rest.
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The Osiris myth embodied this cycle of birth, death, and rebirth and gave the promise of immortality.
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In exchange, occasionally they were given trinkets and promises or reservations upon land that was theirs to begin with.
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Working in tandem they gave off an exciting promise of depravity.
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The weather was giving promise of an early spring and they were on their way northwards, to Nahum's father.
hold
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So too the yawning depths of the wave, even while threatening annihilation, hold out the promise of rebirth.
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Feminism once held out a promise that there would be some precincts of womanly life that were not all about men.
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Clark's work clearly holds promise of a new class of antimalarials, even though there is much still to be done.
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Frustration of my plans to lighten the disaster will convince people that the future holds no promise to them.
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Bilateral agreements may hold out more promise , if only because they are easier to administer.
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State access Smart communities hold a lot of promise for state officials.
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For the moment Christmas on the slopes holds little promise .
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Television held the promise , eventually, of informing, educating, and engaging the entire electorate in unprecedented ways.
honour
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Thaksin needs a large amount of funds if he is to honour the populist promises that got him elected.
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The King was not called upon to honour his promise .
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If he makes statements from the Dispatch Box, he should be a man of honour and honour his promises .
keep
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Lais had kept her promise though at what cost to herself he would never know.
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He meant it, but he did not keep the promise .
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She wanted very much to be good and to keep her promise .
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Large global organizations are unable to keep their promises to provide these benefits.
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She said she wanted to keep a promise to her husband that she would spend more time with the family.
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One candidate, Bermudez, vowed to spend no more than $ 1, 000 and kept her promise .
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She was determined to keep her promise to Rose Maylie, and meet her as arranged.
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A resignation would force open the debate and make Dini keep his promise to quit, the Alliance argued.
live
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Insiders admit that by both external and internal measures, it has failed badly during the 1980s to live up to its promise .
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It is the danger that we shall be forced to live up to the promise of democracy.
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Perhaps he ought to remember those days and get around to living up to the promise he made to the last Tory conference.
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The reality, however, never came close to living up to the promise .
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I hoped it would live up to its promise .
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Yet the country's performance in this area hardly lives up to promises when the relevant laws were passed in 1978.
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Our country has more than enough pubs whose ruined interiors fail to live up to the promise of attractive historic frontages.
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The day had a shadow in it and waS not living up to its promise .
make
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Mr Wahid has been making such promises since he took office 15 months ago.
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As a leader in the Senate, you make progress by making promises others can count on.
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Most of those making that promise will be dead before 2020 and none of them will still be in office.
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Party leaders will wait until after the service is privatised before making specific spending promises .
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John LaRue made a promise to me.
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He wanted to be gone, even though Deuce made reassuring promises and Doug could one day turn out to be a friend.
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Instead of addressing the problem, however, both candidates are making claims and promises that compound it.
pay
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I was working out well, an investment with the promise of paying out.
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Congress also has shifted from direct loans to loan guarantees: promises to pay back private bank loans if the borrowers default.
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That is a benefit to him which is good consideration for his promise to pay maintenance.
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A bond is merely a promise to pay a specific amount of money at a certain time in the future.
renege
▪
Any pause in progress towards the objective is a matter of reneging on electoral promises .
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Amid an increasingly hostile war of words, Finley has criticized Racicot for reneging on a promise to cooperate with federal authorities.
show
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In an interview with the Intelligence Department of the Foreign Office, he showed great promise as an interpreter.
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The Smiths showed early promise of breaking traditions, but failed.
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Yet he showed early promise as a newsman.
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Growing alternative crops such as short rotation coppice as energy crops and fibre crops such as flax and hemp showed promise .
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New, long-acting implants and injectables show promise of having as much impact during the 1990s and beyond.
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Russell, my younger brother, also showed some promise but was hindered by a knee problem.
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Such techniques show promise also for compressing complex sensor data during conventional processing.
PHRASES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
a binding contract/promise/agreement etc
▪
An offer is something which is clearly intended if accepted to form a binding agreement.
▪
But Equitable was set on the Halifax deal and has signed a binding contract for the first half of its proposals.
▪
However, in many cases the parties may create a binding contract by agreement on the three matters already identified.
▪
If they can come to a binding agreement, the prisoners will both profess their innocence and be sentenced to two years.
▪
In general there was the invocation of one or more deities to bear witness that a binding contract was being undertaken.
▪
It was held there that the parties had made a binding contract, albeit with the price still outstanding.
▪
The successful bidder is under a binding contract to purchase the relevant property.
empty words/gestures/promises etc
▪
Hadn't he said that to express it would be just empty words?
▪
He expected her to trust him, but as far as she could see they were just empty words.
▪
He listens politely, then makes plausible but essentially empty gestures.
▪
I tried to make choices, but wound up with empty gestures.
▪
These are not empty words and phrases, but principles given powerful institutional sanction.
▪
This is the circus of empty promises and dry press releases that are part and parcel of meetings like these.
▪
To all these petitions the Crown returned empty promises of redress.
fulfil a promise/pledge etc
▪
Instead, people earn both through a reinforcing cycle of making and fulfilling promises.
▪
Pity he didn't fulfil a promise he made to Darlington Business Venture when he came up last November.
▪
Young said he had fulfilled a promise he made when taking the helm in 1969&.
fulfil your potential/promise
▪
All girls and boys, from every background, must be able to discover their talents and fulfil their potential.
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But there is grave doubt among environmentalists as to whether the Government will fulfil its promises according to schedule.
▪
Draft history is full of players who never fulfilled their promise.
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For 15 years, Lindbergh more than fulfilled its promise.
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I was wrong: it has not yet fulfilled its promise.
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Lewis has begun to fulfil his promise.
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Many teachers express concern that even their more able pupils do not fulfil their potential in the subject.
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We only fulfil our potential as individuals in working with and for others, as well as for ourselves.
give sth a lick and a promise
honour a promise/contract/agreement etc
▪
Moreover, Gosteleradio claimed that Interfax had never honoured an agreement to remit 50 percent of its earnings to Radio Moscow.
redeem a promise/pledge
renege on an agreement/deal/promise etc
▪
Amid an increasingly hostile war of words, Finley has criticized Racicot for reneging on a promise to cooperate with federal authorities.
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They had been bitten too often by Congress reneging on agreements negotiated in good faith by the White House.
vain threat/promise etc
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
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"I'll call you tomorrow." "Is that a promise ?"
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He left with a promise that he would be back before six.
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Making promises is risky for a company, but it usually does result in improved customer relations.
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Scott made a campaign promise not to raise taxes.
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The refugees are relying on promises of food and aid from the West.
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
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But Comcast has made the investment and delivered on its promise .
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Even worse, it turned out that being able to offer drinks was not a key promise for his customers.
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Inherent in this promise is a kind of security blanket; the union chief is replaced with a mutual fund manager.
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Mannheim's relationism seemed to his detractors like a hollow promise , an attempt to have it both ways.
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Not withstanding this promise , the use of road pricing to change travel habits still seems some way off.
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The security of both was the promise of a large proportion of the land after the drainage operation had been successfully completed.
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These promise to be of such importance that I shall briefly relate them here, before journeying north.
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Usually the sins confessed were minor in nature: a broken promise , a plagiarized term paper.