I. verb
COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES
as good as dead/ruined/useless etc
▪
This carpet’s as good as ruined.
destroy/ruin sb’s reputation
▪
The accusation ruined her reputation and cost her the election.
lay in ruins
▪
The town now lay in ruins .
ruin any chance of sth (= make it impossible for something to happen )
▪
Drinking alcohol can ruin any chance of weight loss.
spoil/ruin the countryside
▪
Too many tourists can spoil the countryside.
spoil/ruin your appetite (= make you not feel like eating a meal )
▪
Don’t give the children any more sweets – it will spoil their appetite.
COLLOCATIONS FROM CORPUS
■ ADVERB
completely
▪
Otherwise you may completely ruin your kitchen table or working surface!
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It's completely ruined the furniture.
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One June day, my sister was caught in a thunderstorm, and the deluge completely ruined her hat.
■ NOUN
business
▪
And has Phil forgotten his summer vow to ruin Ian's business ?
▪
He lost a third time when Clark and Street sued him for ruining their ferry business .
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She could keep Judi out of it, but ruin a good few careers, businesses and marriages.
▪
He now claims federal agents ruined his business and reputation.
▪
Fakhru heard the remark, but said nothing; he preferred not to ruin a good business deal with petty religions differences.
career
▪
Any kind of sharp practice or dishonest dealing will infallibly ruin his career .
▪
He had been found guilty by inferred accusation, and this had ruined his career .
▪
Not sure I want to - it would ruin his career .
▪
If you insist, we shall rigidly enforce that provision, in the courts if necessary which would ruin your career once and for all.
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She could keep Judi out of it, but ruin a good few careers , businesses and marriages.
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They have ruined several people's careers and lives.
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They say the report has already damaged morale and could ruin their careers .
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Then they would move on to acquaintances who were ruining their careers doing television.
chance
▪
Despite the glossy packaging he ruined Labour's chances last time and he is set to repeat the disaster.
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And such imploding partnerships can ruin all chances for success for both the people involved.
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Dennis invariably ruined his own chances by his complete anti-establishment stance.
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I was ruining his chances of getting free from the chains of misery attaching him to a rotten banlieue de Paris.
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I feel that Piggy's lack of the understanding of human nature ruined the chance of democracy for the boys.
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An absent Lexandro could ruin this chance .
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She didn't in any way splash it across the newspapers because that ruined her sister's chances .
▪
The outbreak of World War I ruined all chance of its success, and he never quite recovered financially or professionally.
country
▪
The generals know they are ruining their country , but they do not dare relinquish power.
crop
▪
They did not ruin crops or attack living things.
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The toll includes drowned livestock, ruined wheat crops and boats torn from their moorings on rivers around the north state.
day
▪
The fog that had ruined their day yesterday was killing them that morning.
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What saves the day , then, is also what ruins the day: difference.
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A doubt like faraway thunder threatens to ruin the day , that it's squandered on this.
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Sometimes two syllables are enough to ruin your day .
▪
Of course some may say he ruined the day .
game
▪
The only thing that ruined the game for me was the time it took to load each room.
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The Matadors' shoddy spell in the second half ruined a good game .
▪
Did this man know that he had ruined our game , our happiness, everything we held dear?
▪
But the age of the fighters ruined the game for me.
health
▪
They took away his freedom, they broke his spirit, and they ruined his health .
▪
The trip ruined the health of Pere Marquette.
▪
I am worried that I may be ruining my health by not having enough variety in my diet.
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In stern parental terms he told Uncle Allen he would ruin his health by drinking coffee.
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When I think we risked our lives and ruined our health to come to this.
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Study after study contend they can ruin our health with their smoke.
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One slice of chocolate gateau is not going to ruin your health - but several slices a day may well do so.
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They invent a few rules that don't mean anything so that you can ruin your health trying to change them.
life
▪
But I shan't let him continue to ruin my life .
▪
Oddly, however, this incident did not ruin my life .
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She ruined her life and mine, and I've ruined mine and Camille's.
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The words had ruined a ruined life .
▪
People say having a baby ruins your life , and talk about what you could have done in a job and that.
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What a shame for such a nice-looking young man to be ruining his life with whiskey.
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It could ruin your entire life .
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This kid ruining his life at such an early age!
party
▪
Cazalbou's injury-time try came too late to ruin the party .
▪
Teenagers, drunk, disheveled, excited they ruined our party .
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He'd let them down disgracefully, ruining a dinner party that was given entirely for his benefit.
plan
▪
Hatred for the girl who had dared to talk to strangers, who had ruined his plan to get rid of Sikes.
▪
Mr Howie does not, but seems to have accepted that the criticism has ruined his board's plans .
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A confrontation now would ruin all my plans .
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In any case, now if ever was my chance to ruin Victor's plans .
reputation
▪
Their whim can make or ruin a reputation .
▪
Canceling the tour not only would bankrupt the club, Pascoe said, but also ruin its reputation .
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He has ruined Soon-Yi's reputation .
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He now claims federal agents ruined his business and reputation .
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But if the police handle things badly it could ruin my client's reputation and start a lot of unwelcome investigation.
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Yet far from ruining the reputation of Camilla, the claims seemed only to enhance her standing within royal circles.
road
▪
Collision He's making me out to be some sort of thick, brainless loony on a self-destruct road to ruin .
▪
This means that selfish competition, between employees as between corporations, is the road to ruin .
■ VERB
let
▪
I've worked too damned hard just to let everything be ruined because of unsavoury gossip.
▪
The archbishop of Toledo refused to let her premarital jitters ruin a useful alliance.
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But I shan't let him continue to ruin my life.
▪
We're not going to let our lives be ruined by other people's choices.
want
▪
She wants to ruin the play to which I have given all I possess.
▪
Lord Hanson will not want to ruin a fine track record by acting in haste.
▪
Do you want to ruin your beautiful suit?
▪
But young people now realise that certain buildings, for instance, are theirs and they don't want them ruined .
PHRASES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
go to rack and ruin
▪
He's let his father's old house go to rack and ruin.
▪
It seems that the government is prepared to let all our hospitals and schools go to rack and ruin.
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The old farmhouse had gone to rack and ruin.
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First they let the house go to rack and ruin, then the garden; now they were sheltering hippies.
▪
Yet the truth of it was that the estates were going to rack and ruin.
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
▪
A long strike would ruin the company.
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Alcohol and drugs almost ruined his career.
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Don't use harsh soap to wash your face. It will ruin your skin.
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How can you prevent stomach upsets from ruining your holiday?
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John and Sandy argued all the time, which completely ruined the evening for the rest of us.
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Many firms have been ruined by hasty decisions.
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Patty's ex-boyfriend is ruining our relationship.
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Phelps's mistake has ruined her chances of winning the championship.
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Protestors say that the proposed new airport will ruin this peaceful area.
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Serious in-fighting ruined the Conservatives' chances of winning the election.
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She is still angry with the suppliers, who she says ruined her by failing to deliver on time.
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Surely you don't want to ruin all our good work, do you?
▪
The incident has all but ruined her financially.
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The rain had ruined her best velvet skirt.
▪
The Zimmerman's house was ruined by the flood.
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
▪
And if you are ruined, Mr Dollington, it will be by your own hand.
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But this would have ruined the entire tax system.
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I've seen a lot of good coppers ruined that way.
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I thought my career, my friendships and my whole life was ruined.
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In college he loved a young girl of a lower class and ruined her; she died a suicide.
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She almost hated them for ruining her life.
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The only thing that ruined the game for me was the time it took to load each room.
II. noun
COLLOCATIONS FROM CORPUS
■ ADJECTIVE
ancient
▪
A 16-track testimony to the everlasting worth of ancient ruins , excluding Charlie Watts.
▪
A visit to the ancient ruins , especially on a quiet weekday, comes close to a religious experience.
▪
Here we sit around the ancient ruins of a Stilton, eating and talking, drinking and smoking.
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Catacombs, churches, ancient ruins - all of it began blurring together.
financial
▪
Michael Joyce had not suffered financial ruin by his second emigration.
▪
A 35-year-old lawyer faces financial ruin resulting from a serious mental illness.
▪
Pleas that the couple and their two young children will be homeless and facing financial ruin have fallen on deaf ears.
▪
Much of the plains' cattle industry was in financial ruin .
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The small businesses facing financial ruin .
▪
Milk contaminated Scientists are stepping up tests to find the source of dioxin contamination which has brought financial ruin to two farmers.
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It would spell financial ruin and possibly the end.
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In this golden period Tank also sold Peron on nuclear ideas and brought even greater financial ruin as a result.
roman
▪
Explore the cathedral heritage centres, Roman ruins .
■ VERB
bring
▪
Milk contaminated Scientists are stepping up tests to find the source of dioxin contamination which has brought financial ruin to two farmers.
face
▪
David and wife Carol who run a food and tourism business say they face ruin over the pipeline plans.
▪
If he failed, he faced ruin .
▪
The growers appeared to be facing ruin until one bright spark hit on an idea.
▪
A 35-year-old lawyer faces financial ruin resulting from a serious mental illness.
▪
Pleas that the couple and their two young children will be homeless and facing financial ruin have fallen on deaf ears.
▪
The small businesses facing financial ruin .
▪
Meanwhile in San Diego, a society wife faces ruin when her millionaire husband is arrested as a suspected drug trafficker.
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But despite extra sales, many shopkeepers are facing ruin .
fall
▪
Miles of poverty with modern adobe dwellings either being built or falling into ruin .
▪
The wrong of her slighted beauty remained with her until Troy fell in ruins .
▪
Unemployment runs at more than 50 %, and most factories have fallen into ruin .
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Angered by this, she shook the mountain until the city of Skadar fell in ruins .
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In 1685 the castle was burnt by the Duke of Argyll and fell into ruin .
leave
▪
It was one of a number he had picked up since leaving the charred ruins of Ankh-Morpork.
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This time her house was left a complete ruin .
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The Temple Mount was left in ruins .
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In their wake, they leave not ruins but ruin.
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I won't be left in ruins .
▪
We have been left with the ruins of this word after it was applied to grog shops to make them seem respectable.
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Meanwhile, they spread to other countries; and everywhere they left behind them widespread ruin .
lie
▪
The centrepiece was a gradual revaluation of the lira against the dollar-a strategy which now lies in ruins .
▪
He thought the surrounding towns must lie in ruins now, too.
▪
It was to lie in ruins for another sixty-one years.
▪
I have said, and I say again, that Trantor will lie in ruins within the next five centuries.
▪
Elizabeth Jarvis said it was like St Paul's Cathedral, miraculously saved while all around it lay in ruins .
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When he was finished, Rampart Dam lay pretty much in ruins .
▪
Abingdon's trade had been waning for some time, with its fulling mills lying in ruins and unemployment rife by 1538.
▪
Today his dreams for a new society lie in ruin .
rack
▪
Yet the truth of it was that the estates were going to rack and ruin .
▪
First they let the house go to rack and ruin , then the garden; now they were sheltering hippies.
save
▪
Their abandoned Victorian mansion has been bought by the local council to save it from ruin .
PHRASES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
go to rack and ruin
▪
He's let his father's old house go to rack and ruin.
▪
It seems that the government is prepared to let all our hospitals and schools go to rack and ruin.
▪
The old farmhouse had gone to rack and ruin.
▪
First they let the house go to rack and ruin, then the garden; now they were sheltering hippies.
▪
Yet the truth of it was that the estates were going to rack and ruin.
reduce sth to ashes/rubble/ruins
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
▪
an 800-year-old Mayan ruin
▪
financial ruin
▪
We visited the ruins of the old abbey.
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
▪
An exciting feature here is an underground passage leading to a cave deep beneath the ruins.
▪
But the other ruins are impressive, ample and accessible.
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Even in ruin the Colosseum is a magnificent edifice of great structural interest and aesthetic splendour.
▪
He'd seen movement in the ruin .
▪
In a thousand years, archaeologists will be digging through the ruins of what was once San Francisco.
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Maybe a ruin I can fix up.
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Sailors mobilized to search for survivors wandered through the ruins in a daze.
▪
There seemed to be so many of them, more and more crowding silently through the ruins wherever she looked.