number
COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES
a father of two/three/four etc (= a man with two, three etc children )
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The driver, a father of four, escaped uninjured.
a group of three, four, five etc
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There was a group of three at the bar, two men and a woman.
a one in three/four/ten etc chance (= used to say how likely something is )
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People in their 30s have a one in 3,000 chance of getting the disease.
a one-shot/two-goal/three point etc lead (= a lead of a specific amount )
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Goals by Keane and Lennon gave Tottenham a two-goal lead.
a one/two/three etc minute sth
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a ten minute bus ride
a two-thirds/2:1/three to one etc majority
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A two-thirds majority in both Houses of Congress is needed to overturn a presidential veto.
an extra ten minutes/three metres etc
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I asked for an extra two weeks to finish the work.
an hour/three hours etc ago
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He left an hour ago.
an hour/three hours etc earlier/before
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I had just seen him a few hours earlier.
an hour/three hours etc later
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An hour later she arrived home.
at three o'clock/seven thirty etc on the dot (= at exactly 3:00/7:30 etc )
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Mr Green arrived at six on the dot .
be four weeks/three months etc in arrears
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The rent money is two months in arrears.
give sb six months/three years etc (= in prison )
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The judge gave her two years in prison.
I’ll give you three guesses (= used to tell someone that it should be easy for them to guess the answer to their question )
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‘Where is he?’ ‘I’ll give you three guesses.’
last (sb) two days/three weeks etc
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A good coat will last you ten years.
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Cut flowers will last longer if you put flower food in the water.
mother of two/three etc (= mother of two/three etc children )
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Janet is a full-time teacher and a mother of two.
nine out of ten/three out of four etc
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Nine out of ten students pass the test first time.
nought point one/two/three etc (= 0.1, 0.2 etc )
part one/two/three etc
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The questionnaire is in two parts: part one asks for your personal details and part two asks for your comments on the course.
see you tomorrow/at three/Sunday etc
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See you Friday – your place at 8:30.
spend time/three months/six years etc in jail
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Griffiths spent three days in jail after pushing a policeman.
split sth three/four etc ways (= share something between three, four etc people or groups )
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The money will have to be split three ways.
ten days’/three months’/five minutes’ etc notice
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His contract said he must give three months’ notice if he decides to leave the job.
the first two/three/few etc
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I only read the first two chapters of the book.
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It rained during the first few days of the trip.
three feet/two metres etc in width
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It’s about six metres in width.
three quarters of an hour (= forty-five minutes )
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The journey takes three quarters of an hour.
three quarters of an hour (= 45 minutes )
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She arrived three quarters of an hour late.
three quarters (of sth) (= 75% )
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three quarters of a million pounds
three R's
three score years and ten old use (= 70 years, a person’s expected length of life )
three years/two months etc back (= three years ago etc )
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His wife died a couple of years back.
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He called me a while back .
three/six etc full days/years/pages etc
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We devote five full days a month to training.
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His pants rose a full three inches off his shoes.
twice/three times etc as many
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The company now employs four times as many women as men.
two days/three weeks etc after (sth)
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Ten years after he bought the painting, Carswell discovered that it was a fake.
two days/three weeks/five years etc apart
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Our birthdays are exactly a month apart.
two days/three years etc previously (= two days, three years etc before )
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Six months previously he had smashed up his car.
two goals down/three points down etc
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Swindon were six points down at one stage.
two goals up/three points up etc
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United were a goal up at half time.
two hours/three days etc long
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The speech was twenty minutes long.
two metres/three miles etc long
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The bridge is 140 feet long.
two years/three weeks etc later
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He became Senator two years later.
two/three etc occasions
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He was given a red card on two occasions this season.
two/three/four etc abreast (= with two, three, four etc people or vehicles next to each other )
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The planes were flying four abreast.
two/three/four etc billion
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3.5 billion years ago
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Overseas debt is a staggering £16 billion.
two/three/four etc dozen (= 24, 36, 48 etc )
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The number of deaths has risen to more than two dozen.
two/three/four etc hundred
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I make nine hundred dollars a week.
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a journey of 15 hundred miles
two/three/four etc million
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seven million dollars
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£37 million of new investment
two/three/four etc thousand
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five thousand dollars
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The company employs 30 thousand people.
two/three/four etc trillion
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$5.3 trillion
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Japan’s exports were worth $43 trillion last year.
PHRASES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
Formula One/Two/Three etc
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And I don't think many people appreciate the physical demands of actually driving a Formula One car, especially through corners.
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If the Formula One circus is so bothered about avoiding accidents, why not run the entire race behind the safety car?
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It's almost embarrassing the way his Oxfordshire-based team have dominated Formula One this season.
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Like its Formula Two counterpart it was removed from the international calendar at the end of 1984.
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She knew that in between Formula One obligations he had, amazingly, managed to keep his construction interests afloat.
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Villeneuve, who had collided with Ralf Schumacher, gets paid £10MILLION for risking life and limb in Formula One.
a good three miles/ten years etc
a two/three/four etc horse race
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The women's competition was a two horse race between last year's winners Surrey and previous champions Essex.
five/three/nine etc years to the day
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It's three years to the day since Tony Alliss died from gunshot wounds.
half past one/two/three etc
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At half past one the men got up and checked their equipment, gathering several sticks as well.
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At half past three he wanted to die, or to kill somebody.
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At half past two this morning my wife died.
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It was half past three in the morning.
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She arrived at the Herald building at half past three, and walked past the uniformed commissionaire to the lift.
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The return journey was supposed to start at half past three but there would always be a few people missing.
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They'd all been given leaflets about it at half past three.
number one/two/three etc seed
once a week/once every three months etc
one in every three/two in every hundred etc
serve two/three/four etc (people)
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After serving two years of her sentence, she was released on probation.
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As no man can serve two masters we had long been told no wise general tries to fight on two fronts.
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He gave Edberg no chance of breaking him, serving four stunning aces and a massive percentage of first services.
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Newton was released after serving two years in prison.
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Reagan became the first incumbent to serve two terms in the presidency since Dwight D.. Eisenhower in the 1950s.
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She served three consecutive terms from 1877 to 1885, and was noted for her fearlessness and power of debate.
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The new managers saw their administrative responsibilities as serving two purposes.
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This story serves two important purposes.
split sth two/three etc ways
the three R's
three cheers for sb!
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Three cheers for Coach Madison!
three goals/£200 etc to the good
three minutes/ten seconds etc flat
three weeks/two years etc now
three years/five times etc running
to name but a few/a handful/three etc
twice over/three times over etc
two's company, three's a crowd
two's company, three's a crowd
two-headed/three-headed etc
two/three etc deep
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A huge goat-hair sack would then be thrown over the saddle, forming two deep pockets either side.
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Alison Edwards suffered three deep cuts in her face when she accidentally fell through a shop window.
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As it was, I had to stand around a bar packed two and three deep .
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Best show ever-me light as a feather and them standing two deep on two levels!
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I loved the first hour after the opening bell, when customers gathered three deep and the money poured in.
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This had two deep leather armchairs, a big desk with a telephone on it, and books.
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Two bulging boxes were stacked two deep on the right and left of the stage.
two/three etc doors away/down/up
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Across the world, or two doors down the corridor.
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Freda Berkeley misses her and another neighbour, the writer Patrick Kinross, who lived two doors away.
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He thanked the colonel for the interview and returned doggedly to his pistol lessons in the basement range two doors away.
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He tried the house opposite, and was told two doors down.
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I took the keenest pleasure in expelling Phetlock from my old office, two doors down from the Oval.
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Mr Potts and the matrons left them in the church and went to stay two doors away, in a hotel.
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The guest room's two doors down the corridor.
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The second was in another bin beside the Argos showroom two doors away.
two/three etc of a kind
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Andrus and he are two of a kind .
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I want three of a kind .
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In one way, he and Dolly were two of a kind .
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They were two of a kind - extroverted and fun-loving.
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They were two of a kind , people said.
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You and Lady Lavinia, you are two of a kind .
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You and me, we're three of a kind .
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You have to rotate the trays and try to catch two of a kind consecutively.
two/three strikes against sb/sth
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For the younger pilots, I had two strikes against me before I even began that were impossible to overcome.
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Generally, unless batters have two strikes against them, Bosley doesn't want them to swing at high strikes.
we're/you're talking £500/three days etc