number
COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES
3 feet/1 cm/two inches etc thick
▪
The walls are about two meters thick.
a father of two/three/four etc (= a man with two, three etc children )
▪
The driver, a father of four, escaped uninjured.
a one/two/three etc minute sth
▪
a ten minute bus ride
an hour’s/a two hour etc drive
▪
It’s a two hour drive from Calais to Thiepval.
(as) thick as two short planks (= very stupid )
be two/ten etc years sb’s elder
▪
Janet’s sister was eight years her elder.
between...two extremes
▪
In fact, the truth lies between the two extremes .
branches into two
▪
When you reach the village green, the street branches into two .
cut sth in half/two (= into two pieces )
▪
Cut the tomatoes in half.
five hours/two weeks etc solid
▪
On Saturday I went to bed and slept fourteen hours solid.
five metres/two miles etc wide
▪
The river is more than fifty yards wide.
five minutes/two hours etc away
▪
The beach is only five minutes away it only takes five minutes to get there .
have two weeks/six months etc to live
▪
He knows he’s only got a few months to live.
in two/halves/pieces etc
▪
I tore the letter in two and threw the pieces in the fire.
jail sb for two months/six years/life etc
▪
They ought to jail her killer for life.
knows a thing or two (= knows a lot )
▪
My cousin knows a thing or two about golf.
last but one/two etc (= last except for one other, two others etc )
▪
on the last but one day of his trial
last (sb) two days/three weeks etc
▪
A good coat will last you ten years.
▪
Cut flowers will last longer if you put flower food in the water.
lead by ten points/two goals etc
▪
Nadal was leading by two sets.
mother of two/three etc (= mother of two/three etc children )
▪
Janet is a full-time teacher and a mother of two.
nought point one/two/three etc (= 0.1, 0.2 etc )
number two
one/two etc and a half
▪
‘How old is she?’ ‘Five and a half.’
part one/two/three etc
▪
The questionnaire is in two parts: part one asks for your personal details and part two asks for your comments on the course.
slice sth in two/half
▪
Slice the eggs in two and arrange them on a serving dish.
snap (sth) in two/in half (= break into two pieces )
▪
The teacher snapped the chalk in two and gave me a piece.
split sth in two/down the middle
▪
The war has split the nation in two.
split (sth) in two/half
▪
The board had split in two.
▪
Split the pineapple down the middle .
tear sth in two ( also tear sth in half )
▪
Jack snatched the letter from him and tore it in two.
ten minutes/two hours etc late
▪
The bus came ten minutes late.
ten minutes/two hours etc late
▪
You’re half an hour late.
the first two/three/few etc
▪
I only read the first two chapters of the book.
▪
It rained during the first few days of the trip.
three feet/two metres etc in width
▪
It’s about six metres in width.
three years/two months etc back (= three years ago etc )
▪
His wife died a couple of years back.
▪
He called me a while back .
twelve weeks pregnant/two months pregnant etc
▪
The doctor said that she was eight weeks pregnant.
two days/three weeks etc after (sth)
▪
Ten years after he bought the painting, Carswell discovered that it was a fake.
two days/three weeks/five years etc apart
▪
Our birthdays are exactly a month apart.
two days/three years etc previously (= two days, three years etc before )
▪
Six months previously he had smashed up his car.
two goals down/three points down etc
▪
Swindon were six points down at one stage.
two goals up/three points up etc
▪
United were a goal up at half time.
two hours/three days etc long
▪
The speech was twenty minutes long.
two metres/three miles etc long
▪
The bridge is 140 feet long.
two miles/six feet etc apart
▪
Place the two posts 6 metres apart.
two years/three weeks etc later
▪
He became Senator two years later.
two/queen etc of diamonds
▪
the ace of diamonds
two/three etc occasions
▪
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 )
▪
The planes were flying four abreast.
two/three/four etc billion
▪
3.5 billion years ago
▪
Overseas debt is a staggering £16 billion.
two/three/four etc dozen (= 24, 36, 48 etc )
▪
The number of deaths has risen to more than two dozen.
two/three/four etc hundred
▪
I make nine hundred dollars a week.
▪
a journey of 15 hundred miles
two/three/four etc million
▪
seven million dollars
▪
£37 million of new investment
two/three/four etc thousand
▪
five thousand dollars
▪
The company employs 30 thousand people.
two/three/four etc trillion
▪
$5.3 trillion
▪
Japan’s exports were worth $43 trillion last year.
wait two hours/ten minutes etc
▪
William waited an hour for his sister to arrive.
PHRASES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
(there are) no two ways about it
▪
No two ways about it, Blue says to himself: he knows everything.
▪
No two ways about it, Clint Schneider was dynamite.
▪
That was the job description, no two ways about it.
▪
There are no two ways about it.
Formula One/Two/Three etc
▪
And I don't think many people appreciate the physical demands of actually driving a Formula One car, especially through corners.
▪
If the Formula One circus is so bothered about avoiding accidents, why not run the entire race behind the safety car?
▪
It's almost embarrassing the way his Oxfordshire-based team have dominated Formula One this season.
▪
Like its Formula Two counterpart it was removed from the international calendar at the end of 1984.
▪
She knew that in between Formula One obligations he had, amazingly, managed to keep his construction interests afloat.
▪
Villeneuve, who had collided with Ralf Schumacher, gets paid £10MILLION for risking life and limb in Formula One.
a bird in the hand (is worth two in the bush)
a day's march/two weeks' march etc
a two/three/four etc horse race
▪
The women's competition was a two horse race between last year's winners Surrey and previous champions Essex.
be two/five/ten etc years sb's junior
▪
His wife's name was Sarah; she was five years his junior , and she predeceased him by ten months.
▪
The 42-year-old princess married Commander Tim Laurence, who is five years her junior , just before Christmas.
be two/five/ten etc years sb's senior
be two/ten a penny
▪
Anyway, they would fall in love with these Counts who were ten a penny and even pay for their drinks.
▪
Dallams were ten a penny in the backstreets of Frizingley.
▪
Moreover, although titles were two a penny in Cannes, Lord Westbourne was different.
▪
Now they are two a penny - or rather they were until 1990.
▪
Teachers of history are ten a penny , and out-of-work teachers of history are twenty a penny.
▪
There, residential and nursing homes are two a penny .
▪
These rings are ten a penny .
▪
Uncritical testimonials to the postmodern's attractions are ten a penny , and conservative denunciations thereof not much scarcer.
call it £10/two hours etc
don't give a hoot/don't care two hoots
fall between two stools
▪
Overall, the study seems to fall between two stools.
▪
That was a bad time for her because she fell between two stools in a way.
five feet/two metres etc square
for two pins I'd ...
half past one/two/three etc
▪
At half past one the men got up and checked their equipment, gathering several sticks as well.
▪
At half past three he wanted to die, or to kill somebody.
▪
At half past two this morning my wife died.
▪
It was half past three in the morning.
▪
She arrived at the Herald building at half past three, and walked past the uniformed commissionaire to the lift.
▪
The return journey was supposed to start at half past three but there would always be a few people missing.
▪
They'd all been given leaflets about it at half past three.
have two left feet
have two left feet
in a couple of shakes/two shakes
it takes two to tango
kill two birds with one stone
▪
Deedee killed two birds with one stone, both shopping and looking for a shop of her own to rent.
▪
Adding five examples to the chapters that at present lack them would kill two birds with one stone.
▪
By promoting these new investors, Mr Alphandéry could kill two birds with one stone.
▪
In trying to play matchmaker and kill two birds with one stone, I nearly annihilated three.
▪
Lleland was obviously out to kill two birds with one stone.
▪
Thorpey said it'd kill two birds with one stone.
▪
Well, now we can kill two birds with one stone.
like a dog with two tails
like two peas in a pod
not have two pennies/halfpennies/beans to rub together
number one/two/three etc seed
one in every three/two in every hundred etc
one o'clock/two o'clock etc
one or two
▪
"Do you have any Bob Dylan albums?" "Yes, one or two."
▪
I only know the names of one or two of the new students.
▪
There are one or two things I'd like to ask you about.
▪
There are one or two things to sort out before I leave.
▪
We've had one or two problems with the car but nothing serious.
▪
Accommodation Accommodation is in one or two bedroom apartments, about 300 to 400 yds from the sailing beach.
▪
Eventually, this area should be able to support one or two satellite offices.
▪
For the tall man, the lie should be one or two degrees more upright.
▪
In one or two places, Jasper had to pull me up between the rocks.
▪
Let us start with one or two fundamentals.
▪
Ten of the 13 previous meetings between the Braves and Marlins were decided by one or two runs.
▪
The statements should be listed, one or two sentences for each.
▪
There were one or two escapees from within his group, however.
one-all/two-all etc
one-minute/two-minute etc silence
put in your two cents' worth
put two fingers up at sb
serve two/three/four etc (people)
▪
After serving two years of her sentence, she was released on probation.
▪
As no man can serve two masters we had long been told no wise general tries to fight on two fronts.
▪
He gave Edberg no chance of breaking him, serving four stunning aces and a massive percentage of first services.
▪
Newton was released after serving two years in prison.
▪
Reagan became the first incumbent to serve two terms in the presidency since Dwight D.. Eisenhower in the 1950s.
▪
She served three consecutive terms from 1877 to 1885, and was noted for her fearlessness and power of debate.
▪
The new managers saw their administrative responsibilities as serving two purposes.
▪
This story serves two important purposes.
sleep two/four/six etc
▪
All the comfortable rooms sleep two and are of a high standard with private shower and W.C; most have a balcony.
▪
Expect to pay $ 115 for a cabin that sleeps four during peak season.
▪
He was probably fed up with having to sleep four to a bed.
▪
I can actually go home and sleep six hours at night now.
▪
Rates start at $ 75 per night off-season for a cabin that sleeps two.
▪
Soldiers sleep four or six to a dormitory, with lockable doors and private bathrooms.
▪
The properties, which sleep four people, are based at Rosecraddoc Manor, set in 38 acres of woodlands near Liskeard.
▪
They sleep six to a bed and wake up to the fiery sting of bug bites.
split sth two/three etc ways
stand on your own (two) feet
▪
Able to stand on her own feet.
▪
I guess I shall have to learn to stand on my own feet.
▪
Out-and-out competitive in the world market standing on our own feet?
▪
She's very kind, but we ought to stand on our own feet.
▪
She, who'd always stood on her own feet, fought her own battles.
▪
Such beliefs are able to stand on their own feet, without support from others.
▪
Using the market price means that each division must stand on its own feet, as though it were an independent company.
take/bring sb down a peg (or two)
▪
No harm in taking Evans down a peg .
teach/show sb a trick or two
▪
Experienced teachers can teach new teachers a trick or two.
that makes two of us
▪
"I'd like to work in Hawaii." "That makes two of us."
▪
Well, that makes two of us, Hilary thought with a little smile as she sat at the table.
the last but one/the next but two etc
the lesser of two evils
▪
At least they chose the lesser of two evils, but even so Tank managed to create havoc.
▪
Mansfield saw the difficulty in reconciling the two principles, but thought that certainty was the lesser of two evils.
▪
So people go to the polls convinced their only choice is the lesser of two evils.
▪
They regarded the ditching of a widely respected Chancellor, in somewhat undignified circumstances, as the lesser of two evils.
▪
While not particularly welcome, the black knight is considered the lesser of two evils.
three weeks/two years etc now
two bits/four bits
two points/five seconds etc adrift (of sb)
two sides of the same coin
▪
Kohl later said that German unity and European integration were "two sides of the same coin ."
two weeks/a month etc short of sth
two wrongs don't make a right
two's company, three's a crowd
two-headed/three-headed etc
two-storied/five storied etc
two/three etc deep
▪
A huge goat-hair sack would then be thrown over the saddle, forming two deep pockets either side.
▪
Alison Edwards suffered three deep cuts in her face when she accidentally fell through a shop window.
▪
As it was, I had to stand around a bar packed two and three deep .
▪
Best show ever-me light as a feather and them standing two deep on two levels!
▪
I loved the first hour after the opening bell, when customers gathered three deep and the money poured in.
▪
This had two deep leather armchairs, a big desk with a telephone on it, and books.
▪
Two bulging boxes were stacked two deep on the right and left of the stage.
two/three etc doors away/down/up
▪
Across the world, or two doors down the corridor.
▪
Freda Berkeley misses her and another neighbour, the writer Patrick Kinross, who lived two doors away.
▪
He thanked the colonel for the interview and returned doggedly to his pistol lessons in the basement range two doors away.
▪
He tried the house opposite, and was told two doors down.
▪
I took the keenest pleasure in expelling Phetlock from my old office, two doors down from the Oval.
▪
Mr Potts and the matrons left them in the church and went to stay two doors away, in a hotel.
▪
The guest room's two doors down the corridor.
▪
The second was in another bin beside the Argos showroom two doors away.
two/three etc of a kind
▪
Andrus and he are two of a kind .
▪
I want three of a kind .
▪
In one way, he and Dolly were two of a kind .
▪
They were two of a kind - extroverted and fun-loving.
▪
They were two of a kind , people said.
▪
You and Lady Lavinia, you are two of a kind .
▪
You and me, we're three of a kind .
▪
You have to rotate the trays and try to catch two of a kind consecutively.
two/three strikes against sb/sth
▪
For the younger pilots, I had two strikes against me before I even began that were impossible to overcome.
▪
Generally, unless batters have two strikes against them, Bosley doesn't want them to swing at high strikes.
within two feet/ten years etc either way