I. verb
COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES
flinty look/stare
▪
Duvall gave him a flinty stare.
frosty stare/look/tone
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He gave me a frosty stare.
look/gaze/stare out of the window
▪
Mom stared out of the window at the road.
malevolent look/stare/smile etc
▪
He gave her a dark, malevolent look.
return sb’s gaze/stare
▪
She kept her eyes fixed on the floor, refusing to return his gaze.
stared blindly
▪
‘I don’t know,’ she repeated as she stared blindly down into her glass.
stared glumly
▪
She stared glumly at her plate.
stare/gaze/look fixedly at sth
▪
Ann stared fixedly at the screen.
unblinking stare/gaze
▪
His father’s unblinking gaze was fixed on the fire.
COLLOCATIONS FROM CORPUS
■ ADVERB
ahead
▪
In the back seat a thin face stared ahead .
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Now the judge slumped and stared ahead , his eyes open and blank.
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She sat down, staring ahead , oblivious to Robert's presence.
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Barnabas continued to stare ahead , but one ear flickered.
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Sinking into a chair, she stared ahead unseeingly.
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I looked at Holmes, who was staring ahead rigid.
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He stared ahead through the windscreen, his hands clasped in his lap, and she started to drive again.
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I thought if I stared ahead , I might still catch your eye.
back
▪
He hesitated, turning his head, staring back the way he'd come, but the corridor was empty.
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He turned and stared back down the muddy track.
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He looked out into the lecture hall and saw one hundred and seventy pairs of eyes staring back at him.
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The portrait that Karl had insisted on hanging there stared back at her.
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Holly no longer looked at him, he stared back at the stunted ruin that had been the office of the Commandant.
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He was holding his stomach, and staring back at us.
blankly
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When they had gone, Washington stared blankly into his future.
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I stared blankly , his meaning lost.
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After he had gone, she stared blankly at the stack of boxes he had left.
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It was a face that was interesting rather than classically handsome, she thought, staring blankly at him.
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Soon, Nohemi stopped and stared blankly at the wall for several minutes.
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She stared blankly at the wall above the phone table.
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Say your two-year-old is staring blankly into space and absently running his fingers along a toy car.
blindly
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Sinking down into the seat, she stared blindly through the windscreen, her thoughts on her distant family.
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Mr Rolleman was lying almost at her feet, his eyes staring blindly upward from a face of ghastly purple.
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After a while she gave up, and left him sitting there, staring blindly into an unimaginable future.
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Unexpected, it was like a surprise confrontation, and for a moment she could only stare blindly at the familiar name.
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Throughout the passage, Ahab stands on the deck as if transfixed, staring blindly ahead into the wind and sleet.
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She sensed the long look he directed at her, but continued to stare blindly ahead.
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His eyes were wide open, staring blindly at the ceiling - his face was a mottled blue.
down
▪
We then removed the funeral cloths, lifted the gauze veils and stared down at the royal corpse.
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Lucky, too, stared down into the open-ing.
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Joe stared down at the large, rough hand gently rubbing against him.
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He would lock himself in his room and stare down at the pretty church yard across the street.
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Jane crossed to the windows and stood staring down into the street.
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All of them were staring down at us and scanning Hsu Fu intently.
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A great beautiful face stared down at me.
fixedly
▪
Isabel stared fixedly ahead of her, wondering if she had heard aright.
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Rachel stared fixedly at his tanned throat where the white shirt was unbuttoned.
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Lorton was staring fixedly at him.
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Alarmed by that thought, she stared fixedly if unseeingly in front of her.
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The two men were now staring fixedly at each other.
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Finally, he could do nothing but stare fixedly into those ancient eyes.
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As he talked, he was staring fixedly at her.
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She jerked her head round quickly towards where the Men usually came from and stared fixedly .
hard
▪
They were both staring hard at me.
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I felt something akin to the tender hatred one can sense when staring hard at a photograph of oneself.
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He stared hard at pictures held out to him, trying to decipher their language.
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Red is staring hard at Jody.
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She stared hard at the black curly hairs on the neck of the man she'd married nine years before.
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As he put on his coat, he stared hard at Nancy, frowning a little.
out
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She stared out through the thick, salt-streaked glass as roads and fields and houses moved slowly by.
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The men stare out through dark eyes seemingly without pupils.
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Miguel had been sitting on the balcony staring out across the valley.
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His sister was staring out of her window at him, having dragged herself away from the mirror.
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Grace stared out , over the waves, past the rocks and islands.
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For a moment, we both sat and stared out at the ocean.
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Ellie stared out , and saw no future there.
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They both stared out toward the road.
still
▪
Light from the ceiling moved uncertainly over the carved wood Quiss was still staring at.
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Still staring , he bit into the bread.
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Christina found she was still staring as if mesmerized at Stein's confident smile.
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Out of the corner of my eye I could see the father at the next table, still staring at me.
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That bloke with the stick was still staring .
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But instead he sat motionless, fists still clenched, still staring .
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He was still staring into my eyes.
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But still stared at him, wild eyed.
straight
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She was sitting beside him now, staring straight out towards the sea.
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He grunted a little and then stared straight ahead.
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Turning her head, she stared straight into Leo's eyes.
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She clamps her jaw shut and stares straight ahead.
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In the latter painting we stare straight into the ventricles of a human heart, the veins spreading out like branches.
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The figure stared straight ahead, hands fingering a book in its lap.
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The occupants of the car in front were staring straight ahead, not talking to each other, very tense.
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Squeezing his trembling lips shut, he stared straight ahead.
up
▪
Zlorf and Ymor stared up at the figure on the threshold.
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He wandered off then came back to lie on his bed, staring up at the ceiling.
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That night I lay flat on my back in the Sheraton mahogany bed, staring up at the ecru lace canopy.
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He just stared up at the sultry flats.
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He stared up at his third floor.
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He watched them for a minute as they stood in the ring of orange lamplight, staring up at Fir Grove.
■ NOUN
amazement
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Willie stared in amazement at the fields, his thin woollen socks heaped around his ankles.
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Other excitements took their place but I was more inclined to stare at them in amazement than paint them.
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Withel stared at him in amazement for a moment, and then quietly toppled into the mud.
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He stared at her in amazement .
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Suddenly I stopped and stood still, staring in amazement .
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Two fishermen stopped work to stand and stare in amazement .
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Father Poole stared at him in amazement .
bed
▪
They drew near the bed and stared down at the boy who lay there sleeping in its drifts of tumbling lace.
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That night I lay flat on my back in the Sheraton mahogany bed , staring up at the ecru lace canopy.
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Walking back into her room, she sat down on the bed and stared unseeingly at the wall.
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She flopped down on an unmade king-sized bed , staring at me as she took up a cigarette and lit it.
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He threw himself down on the huge old bed and stared at the sloping timber ceiling.
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He wandered off then came back to lie on his bed , staring up at the ceiling.
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She nodded and sat on the bed a moment, staring at him.
ceiling
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Her greenish eyes were wide open, staring sightless at the ceiling .
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Then you usually lie there just staring at the ceiling , thinking about everything that could go wrong.
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He was staring at the ceiling .
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Sara stared at her bedroom ceiling .
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Fulke slouched, staring up at the ceiling .
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He wandered off then came back to lie on his bed, staring up at the ceiling .
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Evelyn lay on her bed and stared at the ceiling .
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She lay on her back staring up at the ceiling and her thoughts immediately flashed back to Luke and last night.
darkness
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He stared into the green darkness behind them.
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Her face staring , staring into the darkness , trying to gaze herself into another world.
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A little later she lay in bed beside her snoring husband, staring into the darkness .
▪
Thus, using infra-red, he would be able to stare through smoke or darkness .
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I stared through the bleak darkness .
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Alec turned on his back and stared into the darkness .
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She spent the next couple of hours staring into the darkness .
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She stared into the darkness until eventually her eyes adjusted and she could see every object in the unfamiliar room.
disbelief
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Charlie leaned forward and stared down in disbelief at a painting of the Virgin Mary and Child.
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Dooley stepped back and cursed with such vehemence that the rector stared in disbelief .
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She stared after him in disbelief , filled with disappointment and a growing anger.
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Then he turned around and stared in disbelief .
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He raised the lid of the first compartment and stared down in disbelief .
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I stared at in disbelief before reading on.
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Sometimes she stared at them in disbelief and they turned away from the clarity of her open blue-grey gaze.
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The businessman was staring in angry disbelief at the glittering computer graphic that hung on the screen before him.
face
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From the right-hand page Vron's face stared me in the eye.
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The grotesque face stared at her.
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He looked at his own face staring back, with Billie's face next to it.
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In the back seat a thin face stared ahead.
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The ugly, freckle-blotched face stared at him from under the garish thatch of red hair.
floor
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He was staring at the floor , keeping very still as if he was trying to be part of the wall.
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He shook his head, staring down at the floor .
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Malamute stared earnestly at the floor , nodding vigorously at certain points in her narrative.
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Eddie is in the corner, stone-faced, staring at the floor .
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She just stares at the floor and rocks.
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She sits there, staring at the floor , motionless except for that one finger inscribing a circle around the can.
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Kim bit his lip and stared at the floor as his father rose to look meaningfully in their direction.
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Benjy stared down at the floor .
hand
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Cara held it in her hands , staring at it, unbelieving.
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She opened it with a trembling hand and sat staring at it for a long time.
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Helen was holding on to the stall gate with both hands and staring at him.
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He sat, a wine cup clenched firmly in his hands , as he stared through a window into the gathering darkness.
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Holding his bundle of papers with both hands , he stared at Langford accusingly, lower lip pushed out.
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Gladys Brown clenched her hands and stared down at the bony knuckles.
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He tore some primroses off their stems, and stood with them in his hands , intently staring at them.
head
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Open-mouthed, Leith turned her head to stare at him.
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He shook his head , staring down at the floor.
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She shook her head and stared into the fire and then at the television screen.
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I lifted my gaze over their heads and stared at the brass bar above the window.
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She sat with her hand at the side of her head as she stared out of the window.
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Legs crossed, head bowed and sullenly staring out of the window, Diana was mingling with tourists, businessmen and oil-rig workers.
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He lay with his arms under his head and stared at the ceiling as the Monsignor grunted and groaned.
horror
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I stare in horror at its bloody mouth, that vertical stitch of red wool now dribbling crimson.
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Bertha enters and stares in horror .
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Agnes looked up at Vlad, who was staring in horror .
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He turned to cover it, then stopped and stared in horror .
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She stared in horror at the whitened, frozen cadavers which lay there under a tattered, canvas sheet.
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She stared at it in horror .
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Unable to move, I stared in horror at the shape behind the glass, and screamed.
moment
▪
For a moment she stared at a different Luke.
▪
Most of the time he knew the answers, but hated the silence in that terrible moment of everyone staring at him.
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For a moment , all three stared .
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Spider stood holding him like that for a moment , just staring .
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For a few moments she stared at the tawny eagle and then at Mr Wolski, and he looked at her.
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For a moment he just stared at me, looking rather perplexed.
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He put a sheet of hotel stationary into the roller and sat there for a moment , staring at it.
room
▪
At halftime, Oregon up by six, Jess stands alone in the back of the locker room staring her wide-eyed stare.
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I had dressed after my shower and was sitting on the steps of the shower room staring dully through the wire.
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They felt the others in the room staring at them and turned simultaneously.
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Time in the waiting room , staring at the wounded apples and their open flesh.
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She sits on the couch in the locker room staring straight ahead as the others trade jokes.
space
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Rachel screamed and woke up, drenched with sweat, shaking, staring into space .
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Mrs James caught me staring into space twice even though the girl sitting next to me had nudged me in time.
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Instead of tracing the pages with his finger as he usually did, he was staring vacantly into space .
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When he left, she stared at the empty space on the wall where his rosary beads had been.
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In his study, Bernard Quex stared into space , pen motionless over his notepad.
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Robyn sat staring into space , her mind numb with shock and disbelief, total agonising disbelief.
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Sometimes she sits in a lounge chair on the back porch and stares off into space .
wall
▪
Days spent staring at the wall .
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She was just sitting there in the dark, staring at the wall .
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You're not in prison - you don't have to stare at the walls .
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After Lynne left his office Manion sat and stared at his wall calendar.
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She stared blankly at the wall above the phone table.
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Soon, Nohemi stopped and stared blankly at the wall for several minutes.
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Thérèse and Léonie stared at the steep wall of rock, at the grass and weeds at its foot.
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He stared at the bedroom wall .
window
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Another woman stood on one leg by the window and stared at her.
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In between times he looked out the window or stared at me, smiling when our eyes met.
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I got up and wandered to the window and stood staring out.
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I pulled up opposite, wound down the window and stared .
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Sighing, he rose from his desk and walked to the windows to stare out at the Vatican through the rain.
■ VERB
continue
▪
Fascinated by this new vision of himself, he continued to stare .
▪
The sun is setting now as John continues , o en staring at the skyscrapers, slouched in his chair.
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He continued to stare at her, his fleshy face filmed with perspiration, neck bulging above his tight collar.
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Eliza continued to stare at Bigelow.
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Romanov waved his hand as he continued to stare at the pre-war, faded photograph of the two men.
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Barnabas continued to stare ahead, but one ear flickered.
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She continued to stare back at him.
sit
▪
She sat down, staring ahead, oblivious to Robert's presence.
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I sat through lunch hour staring at a poster of a crab louse magnified to monstrous proportions.
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Boy would sometimes sit staring at this view with a guide to the city open on his lap.
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We sat , staring up at it, awed almost to sobriety.
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I should have sat up, eyes staring and sweat pouring off my forehead like in some old Hammer Brothers movie.
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The woman just sat there staring as the packages were opened.
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Crossing to the dressing-table, she sat down, staring at her reflection glumly.
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I sat and stared too for a while.
stand
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They stood staring at each other, neither of them really knowing what to say or do next.
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He started up and stood staring around him.
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They all stood around staring at her and smiling awkwardly, as if she was embarrassing.
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She stood there staring , poised like a disturbed marsh bird for instant flight.
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She stood , staring out at the pond and the dark Grove rising up the mountain behind it.
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He was standing there, staring at the van.
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He wedged the picture inside the locker door and stood staring at it.
stop
▪
Philosophers need to stop procrastinating and staring at their navels and answer questions like the one above with a definite answer.
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Then another car, this time stopping so occupants could stare at the U. S. Air Force barracks.
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Michael Lever stopped and stared up at it.
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I forced myself to stop staring at his chest and looked instead around the room.
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I stopped walking and stared wide-eyed as the rest of the senescent strollers proceeded out of this dimension.
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When we used to stroll in the streets, men would stop to stare not on my account, but on hers.
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The priest found his eyes drawn towards it and made a conscious effort to stop staring at it.
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Soon, Nohemi stopped and stared blankly at the wall for several minutes.
turn
▪
I turn to stare at it, and the driver stares at me.
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Then he turned around and stared in disbelief.
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He hesitated, turning his head, staring back the way he'd come, but the corridor was empty.
▪
Logically enough, everybody turned to stare at Lolly Stoppelgard, who looked understandably puzzled.
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Open-mouthed, Leith turned her head to stare at him.
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Kenny turned and stared at me, silent.
▪
The speaker broke off, turning to stare at her as she stood in the doorway.
▪
She had kept her neck painfully turned and strained to stare out the window at the street scenes.
PHRASES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
look/stare/gaze into space
▪
He was just gazing into space .
▪
In his study, Bernard Quex stared into space , pen motionless over his notepad.
▪
Mrs Frizzell gazed into space and Mrs Murphy smoothed back errant curls from her damp forehead.
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Mrs James caught me staring into space twice even though the girl sitting next to me had nudged me in time.
▪
My companion remained oblivious to the sights, staring into space and frowning.
▪
Rachel screamed and woke up, drenched with sweat, shaking, staring into space .
▪
Sometimes the door was ajar and I would see her sitting absolutely still, staring into space , not reading at all.
▪
Usually, after a performance I come home and stare into space .
vacant expression/look/stare etc
▪
Brittany, the blond cheerleader, has a vacant stare and huge eyelashes.
▪
But an oddly vacant look had come over Cinzia's features.
▪
Eyes downcast; baby lips pulled into a frown; dull, vacant stare.
▪
He was a bright-eyed boy, thin and fair, with a vacant expression that often gave way to shrill laughter.
▪
He was looking round with a vacant look on his face and I was frightened.
▪
However, just behind the vacant expression he offered me, I detected fear.
▪
The maid's vacant expression was replaced momentarily by one of greedy expectation - shortly followed by disappointment.
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
▪
Donna stared in horror as the man fell to the floor.
▪
Everyone turned to look at him, and he stared stonily back.
▪
Fenton stood tall and stared down the gunmen.
▪
It's not polite to stare , you know.
▪
Ron kept silent and stared down at his food.
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She stared at the page for several minutes, trying to understand.
▪
When he's depressed, he just sits there, staring off into space.
▪
Why are you staring at me like that?
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
▪
Clayt drew up his shoulders and stared into the middle distance, as though he were finished.
▪
Dragan stared and felt his head burning.
▪
He leaned against the rood screen and stared up at his newly repaired roof.
▪
He was silent around her; he sat reading Bible commentaries and writing his sermons and staring into the fire.
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She was staring in pain at the sick horse.
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Some children scattered, turning to stare .
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Then you usually lie there just staring at the ceiling, thinking about everything that could go wrong.
II. noun
COLLOCATIONS FROM CORPUS
■ ADJECTIVE
blank
▪
Poindexter gave him a blank stare .
▪
But ask them when fund shareholders should sell their funds, and you get a blank stare .
▪
Julie found herself drawn almost hypnotically to the blank stares .
▪
As his eyes adjusted to the dimness he began to feel dominated by the blank stares of the plaster martyrs.
▪
All he got in return was a blank stare and a cloud of fresh cigar smoke.
cold
▪
Ruth saw a green trail of cloaks, light striking from silver helmets, and a cold transfixing stare .
▪
The women raked us with their cold stares as Clarisa rose, picked Janir up and carried him off.
▪
But I gave her a cold stare and fluffed my fur out.
▪
He turned a brief cold stare on her.
▪
Women policed each other, stopping rebellious acts with cold and disapproving stares .
fixed
▪
Three who were hospitalised could not speak intelligibly, had a fixed stare , and were constantly drooling.
▪
On the other hand do not overcompensate and regard the interviewer with a fixed stare .
▪
The dominant cat always keeps a fixed stare directed towards its rival.
hard
▪
Infuriated, he looked at me with a hard , steady stare .
▪
The woman gave Patrice a long hard silent stare .
▪
She circled Tallis twice, staring down at her, not touching, not acknowledging her beyond the hard , contemptuous stare.
▪
People looked at her nervously - women with unconcealed envy, men with a hard appraising stare .
▪
He gave us a hard stare as he passed, very slowly.
long
▪
She wanted Phoebe's long bold stare , so different from Rachel's serene regard-more dangerous, more challenging.
▪
The woman gave Patrice a long hard silent stare .
▪
Their eyes met in a long , arching stare .
▪
As for Miguel, he would treat her to a long stare with those soulful eyes and mutter something she did not understand.
unblinking
▪
There was something not quite right about his unblinking stare .
vacant
▪
Eyes downcast; baby lips pulled into a frown; dull, vacant stare .
▪
Brittany, the blond cheerleader, has a vacant stare and huge eyelashes.
■ NOUN
decisis
▪
First, as we have said, is the doctrine of stare decisis .
▪
Instead, the opinion... contains an elaborate discussion of stare decisis .
■ VERB
fix
▪
Jack fixed his stare on hers.
▪
He fixed his stare on a shelduck whose white and brown plumage he could easily see.
give
▪
But I gave her a cold stare and fluffed my fur out.
▪
Poindexter gave him a blank stare .
▪
Grabbed her handbag back, gave me the gargoyle stare , went inside.
▪
The tired horse stopped dead in its tracks and turned its head around to give him a baleful stare .
▪
Charlie didn't reply, just gave his daughter a stare - which was enough.
▪
He gave us a hard stare as he passed, very slowly.
meet
▪
Her friendly enquiry as to the whereabouts of the Red House was met by a hostile stare from the woman behind the counter.
▪
Is your presence regularly met by muted stares ?
▪
But Theda stayed where she was by the door, meeting Araminta's malevolent stare with a fast-beating heart.
▪
Her friendly gestures were met with stony stares .
▪
Normally this was met with a stony stare .
▪
As the mayor turned back, he met Agnes's stare .
▪
Questions about his infatuation with the bar owner's wife were met by a stony stare .
return
▪
The cat watched her from the kitchen doorway and she returned its stare .
▪
She was returning his stare without flinching.
▪
Not only that, but he was returning her stare measure for measure.
▪
He returned her stare and smiled, thinking to himself that she was probably very attractive underneath all the hair and make-up.
PHRASES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
fix sb with a stare/glare/look etc
look/stare/gaze into space
▪
He was just gazing into space .
▪
In his study, Bernard Quex stared into space , pen motionless over his notepad.
▪
Mrs Frizzell gazed into space and Mrs Murphy smoothed back errant curls from her damp forehead.
▪
Mrs James caught me staring into space twice even though the girl sitting next to me had nudged me in time.
▪
My companion remained oblivious to the sights, staring into space and frowning.
▪
Rachel screamed and woke up, drenched with sweat, shaking, staring into space .
▪
Sometimes the door was ajar and I would see her sitting absolutely still, staring into space , not reading at all.
▪
Usually, after a performance I come home and stare into space .
vacant expression/look/stare etc
▪
Brittany, the blond cheerleader, has a vacant stare and huge eyelashes.
▪
But an oddly vacant look had come over Cinzia's features.
▪
Eyes downcast; baby lips pulled into a frown; dull, vacant stare.
▪
He was a bright-eyed boy, thin and fair, with a vacant expression that often gave way to shrill laughter.
▪
He was looking round with a vacant look on his face and I was frightened.
▪
However, just behind the vacant expression he offered me, I detected fear.
▪
The maid's vacant expression was replaced momentarily by one of greedy expectation - shortly followed by disappointment.
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
▪
Charles didn't reply. He just gave his daughter an icy stare .
▪
The suspect was described as having a blank stare after the shooting spree.
▪
Their argument attracted the stares of passing shoppers.
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
▪
Ruth saw a green trail of cloaks, light striking from silver helmets, and a cold transfixing stare .
▪
The person sitting on the low wall did not move, even when Pol cast a meaningful stare in its direction.
▪
The women raked us with their cold stares as Clarisa rose, picked Janir up and carried him off.
▪
Up and down with giggles and stares.
▪
With this stare , I thee covet.