I. verb
COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES
an effect wears off (= gradually stops )
▪
The effect of the anaesthetic was beginning to wear off.
comfortable to wear/use/ride etc
▪
My bike isn’t very comfortable to ride.
evening wear/dress (= formal clothes that people wear to social events in the evening )
▪
a shop specializing in glamorous evening wear
sb's patience is wearing thin (= they are becoming angry )
▪
People's patience is wearing thin as the queues for visas get longer.
the excitement wears off (= it gradually becomes less )
▪
The initial excitement of my new job was starting to wear off.
the night wears on (= continues )
▪
The pain gradually got better as the night wore on.
the novelty wears off (= something stops seeming new and interesting )
▪
Once the novelty had worn off he didn't play with his train set much.
threadbare/worn (= very thin and in bad condition )
▪
It was a dingy room with a threadbare carpet.
wear a cap
▪
He was wearing a baseball cap.
wear a coat
▪
He was wearing a long coat.
wear a nappy
▪
She doesn't wear nappies anymore; she's toilet trained.
wear a ring
▪
He wore a gold ring on his right hand.
wear a smile (= have a smile on your face )
▪
She wore a self-confident smile.
wear a watch
▪
He wore a gold watch.
wear an expression
▪
Their pilot wore an expression of extreme relief.
wear clothes
▪
She always wears beautiful clothes.
wear earrings
▪
She was wearing gold earrings and a diamond necklace.
wear glasses
▪
I didn’t know you wore glasses.
wear gloves
▪
Always wear gloves when gardening.
wear make-up
▪
They’re not allowed to wear make-up to school.
wear perfume
▪
What's that perfume you are wearing?
wear shoes
▪
He was wearing smart black shoes.
wear socks
▪
He always wore red socks.
wear your hair long/in a ponytail etc (= have that style of hair )
▪
He wore his hair in a ponytail.
wear...brace
▪
She had to wear a brace after the accident.
wearing masks
▪
He was attacked and robbed by two people wearing masks .
What Not to Wear
wore heels
▪
Whenever she wore heels she was taller than the men she worked with.
worn out
▪
You must be absolutely worn out.
worn smooth
▪
The stone steps had been worn smooth .
COLLOCATIONS FROM CORPUS
■ ADVERB
always
▪
If you remember, the girl said they always wore leather gloves.
▪
He was always wearing a suit though.
▪
She had lots of rings, on both hands, and she always wore overalls.
▪
Patinkin always wears a casual black ensemble when he sings.
▪
Leonard Nimoy always wears his lucky woolly hat on set. 20.
▪
He was six feet two, kept fit by riding daily in Central Park, and always wore jodhpurs to work.
▪
A small, happy man with a white beard, he always wore the traditional grocers' apron.
▪
They appeared with starlets at cabarets, guested on game shows and even flirted with politics, always wearing their masks.
never
▪
Needless to say, I never wore the hat and it eventually went into one of my charity bags.
▪
Which is not to say that I never wore them.
▪
I never wore anything that hugged my body.
▪
He never wore it again after that first week, but his secretary kept it for three decades.
▪
He never wore swirling capes or giant fedoras.
▪
That day the dashing young man unbuckled his sword and never wore one again.
▪
She would never wear rubber unless she became incontinent or was taking a course in scuba diving for women.
▪
Or giving lacy, uncomfortably fashionable underthings she will never wear .
still
▪
It still wore its fire-engine red livery.
▪
No, he was still wearing it.
▪
She still wears them in class, closing her left eye to bring the blackboard into focus.
▪
He still wore his tartan cap.
▪
Edusha ate her breakfast still wearing her bathrobe and her slippers.
▪
Urquhart had come straight from the office and was still wearing a grey suit with a red tie.
▪
I still wear my Nixon mask on Halloween.
■ NOUN
belt
▪
At the time of the accident the plaintiff was not wearing a seat belt .
▪
And, she does not force her children to wear seat belts .
▪
His injuries were worse than they would have been if he had been wearing a seat belt .
▪
If the plaintiff was thrown forwards and injured, then clearly failure to wear a seat belt is contributory negligence.
▪
It could be worn with the sword belt on the outside; and the either the forage or the field headgear.
▪
Heavier passengers will cause greater injury to others in an accident if they are not wearing a seat belt .
▪
The plaintiff scaffolder was injured when he fell and was not wearing a safety belt .
cap
▪
One man, wearing a red cap and with a knife in his mouth, was already on top of the fence.
▪
Police released a composite sketch of him Saturday; in the picture, he is wearing a knit cap .
▪
He was wearing a peaked cap of brown leather and a long black overcoat.
▪
He wore a soft cap of the sort one wears in summer.
▪
The man sitting next to her grandmother wore the distinctive sharp-peaked cap of the Gestapo and Peach froze with horror.
▪
He wore a blue baseball cap backward and a gold hoop in his left ear.
▪
He is wearing a tweed cap and an ancient blue trenchcoat.
▪
The bushes wore thick caps of snow.
clothes
▪
I don't remember the clothes you wore , or your beautiful hair, or the sardines, or the mouth organ.
▪
I owned the clothes I wore and $ 20.
▪
What I do like about her is her confidence, the way she wears outrageous clothes .
▪
Q: Do you like the clothes you wear on the show?
▪
Tim noticed that they looked shabby, their clothes were worn at the edges, the collars dull and frayed.
▪
They were all in the clothes traditionally worn when people are going to Testify.
▪
I am wearing overalls and a striped pullover I hate because it reminds me of the clothes men wear on chain gangs.
coat
▪
Some women wear fur coats , others puffa jackets and boots.
▪
She wore a black coat and had a Soviet Railway badge pinned to her black hat.
▪
I didn't want to work in a place where I couldn't wear my fur coat .
▪
He walked to the front of the large auditorium still wearing his heavy coat and black felt bowler.
▪
She wore a tweed coat with a Cairngorm brooch in the lapel and a furry green felt hat.
▪
Her feet are bare and she is wearing no coat , only a short-sleeved dress with tiny sprigs of blue flowers.
▪
Nan wore the smart navy coat she had worn yesterday, but this time over a pale yellow wool dress.
▪
Today the man carrying the placard warning that the end is nigh may well be wearing a white laboratory coat .
dress
▪
There was the pretty girl from the village shop wearing an emerald-green dress more suited to a wedding.
▪
Today Astrid wore a white satiny dress with a wide gold cinch belt.
▪
He was only outdone by pony-tailed Kate Winslet, wearing a plunging black dress with a crocheted black cardigan.
▪
She is wearing a black dress and pearls, and a stole is strewn on the front seat.
▪
Some of them wore dresses with bulky trainers showing at the bottom.
▪
Jenny, the tomboy, still felt awkward wearing a dress , and so she wore jodhpurs most of the time.
▪
She wore a ravishing dress of white tulle with a wide skirt embroidered with little knots of red velvet.
▪
Had the Brother worn a religious dress , it is most unlikely that such a mistake would have occurred.
girl
▪
If you remember, the girl said they always wore leather gloves.
▪
A two-year-old girl wore L-shaped shoes to keep her feet in the proper position while sleeping or resting.
▪
There was a thin silver ring of the type small girls wear on the fourth finger.
▪
A woman and a girl wore Western clothing.
▪
This girl is wearing black, and Mr Earnshaw died recently.
▪
Now the Wicked Witch had a great longing to have for her own the Silver Shoes which the girl always wore .
▪
The girls were wearing them along with fat clunky shoes that looked like malformed elevator shoes from the seventies.
glass
▪
He had a moustache, short dark hair, and he wore glasses .
▪
Above the grin, the Microsoft Bob face is wearing thick black-rimmed glasses , a la Buddy Holly.
▪
Clean-shaven, he wore steel-rimmed glasses and moved with calculated deliberation.
▪
A young woman wearing glasses with thick lenses sat on a huge sack, reading a letter.
▪
He wore horn-rim glasses and had an air of authority.
▪
Miraculously, he was still wearing his glasses .
▪
You've got short hair, you've got a moustache now, and you wear glasses .
▪
Dad wore glasses , but they spent more time in his hand than on his nose.
gown
▪
She was wearing a dressing gown and pyjamas.
▪
Alek brought her a cluster of early narcissus and she wore a short white gown with a grass-blade pattern.
▪
He had deliberately sent Dana away when he must know how important it was she wear the gown designed for her.
▪
I recognized Rod Holloway, wearing a surgical gown .
▪
The bride wore a gown of ivory raw satin, with the bride and groom's initials embroidered on the train.
▪
All she had left was the clothes she wore , the second gown Nahum had bought her, and her wedding ring.
▪
She was wearing a long white gown , her hair hanging down, like a crazy woman.
hair
▪
Her orange-red hair was worn bouffant, and her orange lipstick made her look like a small circus clown.
▪
She sipped her wine, the dark brown hair she still wore long hanging on each side of her face.
▪
He had fair short hair and wore a red tartan jacket.
▪
She looked shorter, rounder, her hair gone gray and worn in a bun.
▪
Her hair would have been worn in ringlets, or perhaps plaited and held in place with decorative pins.
▪
She has dark hair , wears a slip of patterned silk pulled up to reveal her thighs.
hat
▪
Always protect them with high factor sunscreen creams, and wear a t-shirt and hat .
▪
They wear square hats , when they should try sombreros.
▪
Bernstock &038; Speirs' hats are designed to be easy to wear .
▪
One side is not wearing black hats and one wearing white hats.
▪
Needless to say, I never wore the hat and it eventually went into one of my charity bags.
▪
A buxom woman wears a tall hat .
▪
The station master is wearing a hat shaped like a cucumber.
▪
I think she never forgave me for organizing my friends against wearing hats to mass in 1965.
helmet
▪
Thorfinn had not even troubled to wear his helmet .
▪
Failure to wear a bicycle helmet often contributed to the deaths of cyclists who had been drinking.
▪
He has dark hair and wears a gold helmet with a crest.
▪
And as far as could be determined, none of those head injuries involved anyone wearing a helmet .
▪
He suddenly had a vision of Lee tearing up his note-book and wearing his helmet .
▪
Why did she not wear her helmet , as she usually does?
▪
The rider wore a gilded Grecian helmet that was crested with black and red wool and plumed with a white tuft.
▪
He wears a white helmet that is sealed to his airtight suit and he strides to the unmarked plane without delay.
jacket
▪
The man who shot Richard had grey hair and was wearing a black leather jacket , a blue jumper and jeans.
▪
Mr Alsop generally wore a velvet smoking jacket to dinner; the young men wore black tie.
▪
I had borrowed one of Norris's big paramilitary-style fawn shirts to wear as a jacket over my anti Poll Tax T-shirt.
▪
Frank, the eldest son, is twelve, old enough to wear a jacket and tie.
▪
He did look strange, wearing his woolly jacket and swinging in his sling!
▪
Tony Rich, wearing a fleece-trimmed black jacket with black satin pants and a derby.
▪
He wore a brown sports jacket with a black roll neck sweater.
▪
The bikers wear leather jackets , chaps and gloves.
jeans
▪
He was wearing jeans , like her, and a sweatshirt, and she almost laughed.
▪
Gary wears regulation Levi 501 jeans and a Ralph Lauren polo shirt.
▪
She wears jeans and a tatty jumper.
▪
Seven months earlier my friend could be seen on campus wearing blue jeans and a shirt that said dumb things.
▪
Followed at once by a young man, dark-haired, sunburnt, wearing jeans and a T-shirt.
▪
She wore jeans and a shirt.
▪
Tina looked fantastic in whatever she wore , particularly jeans or a tennis skirt.
▪
She was wearing her blue jeans under her nightgown.
man
▪
The man was wearing a donkey jacket and overalls.
▪
One man , wearing a cowboy hat and a loud check jacket, clashed somewhat with the overcoats and pinstripes.
▪
A woman in her mid forties was dragged into bushes by a man wearing a black stocking mask.
▪
Pappas was shot by two men wearing ski masks.
▪
All the men wore the same cut of beige suit with wide lapels and thick stitching.
▪
At last there was a knock on the door and a young man entered wearing a battered leather jacket and torn breeches.
mask
▪
As I said she wore a mask , and a rich black cloak with white lambswool trimmings.
▪
At the door is a sign instructing all visitors to wear a mask and gown to avoid contaminating the patient.
▪
Clearly, a character wearing a mask is going to have a tricky time with some Fel tests.
▪
Some even began wearing gas masks to block the suspicious fumes.
▪
Sir, if that was my master, why was he wearing a mask over his face?
▪
They wear custom, low-volume masks .
▪
The demonic figures wearing ugly masks and straw and brushwood clothes are intended to scare away evil spirits.
▪
I still wear my Nixon mask on Halloween.
pair
▪
Now that her ankle was fully recovered she could wear a higher pair of fragile silver sandals.
▪
He would wear a pair of shoes until they almost fell apart.
▪
She wasn't afraid to wear a pair of glasses.
▪
He was wearing a very attractive pair of black tassel loafers.
▪
He was wearing a pair of steel-rimmed spectacles.
▪
Cynthia arrived, wearing a pair of blue oven mitts and carrying a large stew pot.
▪
Nat let him in and went to fetch Tony who appeared wearing a pair of boxer shorts and a big smile.
▪
It was Gao Ma, wearing only a pair of olive-drab underpants.
ring
▪
In his left ear he wore a small ring .
▪
I stopped wearing my wedding ring .
▪
She is sometimes seen by his side but wears no engagement ring .
▪
The woman was wearing a wedding ring with diamonds circling a blue sapphire stone, Rodriguez said.
▪
He wore a gold ring , engraved with the letter R - his Christmas present from Johanna.
▪
His golden hair was parted down the middle, and he wore a gold ring on his right hand.
▪
On the index finger of his left hand he wore a gold signet ring .
▪
He wore a gold ring on the third finger of his left hand.
shirt
▪
He had a grey walrus moustache and was wearing a collarless shirt with the sleeves rolled up.
▪
James Walker wore a white tee shirt not quite large enough to accommodate his biceps and pectorals.
▪
Zach put it on and when the jacket was done up it looked as if he was wearing a proper dress shirt .
▪
Saturday night at the Shoreline Amphitheatre he was wearing a white shirt and thick framed glasses.
▪
Peter usually wore the number 11 shirt but frequently operated down the right flank.
▪
She wore jeans and a shirt .
▪
He wore a black shirt and brown trousers during the two-minute hearing at South Sefton Magistrates' court.
▪
As usual, Marty is wearing a plaid shirt , suspenders and Harley-Davidson cap.
shoe
▪
She decided to risk of pair of ridiculously high-heeled shoes , which she wore only occasionally.
▪
Some of us are wearing stylish golf shoes and some are wearing the high-priced sneakers of Tiger Woods' favorite shoe company.
▪
She'd walked some distance, judging by her shoes , which were worn to pieces.
▪
They began with nothing but the shoes they wore , the old clothes on their backs...
▪
She had never seen anything like the shoes the girl was wearing .
▪
But ultimately people want some suits and dresses and shoes to wear down here.
▪
I haven't got the shoes he was wearing , but I have got his spare school pair.
▪
A pencil is for writing, a shoe is for wearing , a car is for driving.
skirt
▪
I felt so cross with myself, so stupid for wearing a short skirt .
▪
She also suggested that I wear a skirt , a long skirt.
▪
She wears a short black skirt and a holster on her belt.
▪
She was wearing a green skirt and a white blouse; she was absolutely clean.
▪
I absolutely hated having to wear a skirt but I soon got used to it.
▪
Alan told me when I arrived at a restaurant wearing a long black skirt .
▪
With its pretty round neck, softly padded shoulders and front-pocket detail, it looks great worn with a skirt or trousers.
▪
She wore a long skirt and a baggy maroon V-neck sweater, one of mine she had appropriated and almost worn out.
smile
▪
The author's face wears a witch's smile of appreciation.
▪
I look like I have been pressed into this against my wishes though I wear a phony smile .
▪
Her dead body wears the smile of accomplishment.
▪
The city wears a smile , and the arts that endure are valued.
▪
He was content there; he wore a wearied smile .
▪
Meh'Lindi wore a mildly blissful smile which vanished as she came alert again.
▪
The figures on the west still wear the archaic smile .
▪
His face wore that same enigmatic smile , but he did not speak.
suit
▪
WEAPONS/ARMOUR: Marius wears a suit of heavy armour and rides an armoured Warhorse.
▪
He wears a silver suit on stage.
▪
He wore a blue suit of safari cut, a non-military colour but a safari-suit none the less.
▪
One worker would have suffered fatal burns had he not worn a protective chemical suit which was not routine for repair work.
▪
Urquhart had come straight from the office and was still wearing a grey suit with a red tie.
▪
He wears excellently tailored business suits , buying six a year from the best shop on Michigan Avenue.
tie
▪
Why can female staff in Canterbury wear casual clothes but the men have to wear shirts and ties ?
▪
Mr Alsop generally wore a velvet smoking jacket to dinner; the young men wore black tie .
▪
The stubble was gone, and he was even wearing a tie - well, nearly.
▪
Citizen Oswald came to town wearing his dark tie , cashmere sweater and gray flannel suit.
▪
But today, wearing the right tie often means wearing the right label.
▪
I wore a tie to work.
▪
In sombre silence, wearing black ties , the Calvinist elders walk between the unusually-full pews.
▪
Everyone wears a suit and tie to the table.
uniform
▪
It looked like Uncle Mosse; it was wearing his old uniform .
▪
Those students and parents who refuse to wear uniforms can apply for a waiver.
▪
It would have been better than staying at home but I did not want to wear a school uniform .
▪
I feel the gates shut on the man, who is now wearing a striped uniform .
▪
Redbrook Secondary appears to be run on fairly formal lines, with all pupils wearing a uniform .
▪
You wear a uniform to play baseball, you wear a uniform to play soccer.
▪
The 12 also refused to wear their prison uniform .
▪
He wore a white uniform and carried a spray can of poison with a long wand.
watch
▪
He floated up the East River wearing a stolen watch .
▪
The consultants wore watch-chains .
▪
There is no reason to wear your watch this way, except that your father told you to do so.
▪
Could the workers afford to buy and wear these watches ?
▪
I only wear my watch this way because my father did.
▪
He had played a wizard, but Anton now wore his watch .
▪
Something about not wearing a watch , he ventured.
woman
▪
The women wore Laura Ashley or Ghost dresses, the men wore expensive jeans.
▪
In another painting, the subject, a woman , wears yellow.
▪
A young woman wearing glasses with thick lenses sat on a huge sack, reading a letter.
▪
In all of these circumstances women can wear their feminist hearts on their sleeves and the world will continue much the same.
▪
No woman should wear a tampon for more than eight hours.
▪
All females in their thirties dressed like chic astronauts; all women over forty wore jaunty, flared trouser suits.
▪
She was a thin pale blond woman who never wore makeup.
PHRASES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
be wearing your teacher's/salesman's etc hat
be worn to a frazzle
▪
We were worn to a frazzle after our last-minute Christmas shopping.
take on/assume/wear the mantle of sth
▪
Against all expectations, it has not taken on the mantle of best pupil in the euro class.
the worse for wear
▪
Architectural details there were few and those were the worse for wear.
▪
But I can see he's the worse for wear, the weathering the worker wreaks on himself.
▪
But I digress ... We are all somewhat the worse for wear after a long night in the hotel bar.
▪
Here I was, returning from a presidential mission, and plainly the worse for wear.
▪
It was a long evening, and he arrived home at two in the morning, much the worse for wear.
▪
John McGuire was slightly the worse for wear after his night out with his wife.
▪
They were a bit the worse for wear; the flat was not clean and was damp.
wear sackcloth and ashes
▪
I have no wish to see Aitken go through the rest of his life wearing sackcloth and ashes.
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
▪
Carolyn always wore bright colors like red.
▪
Do you think I can wear these shoes with this dress?
▪
I wear a lot of black.
▪
Rosa was wearing her hair in a long braid down her back.
▪
She wears sandals, even in the winter.
▪
She was wearing shorts and a T-shirt.
▪
Were you wearing your jacket when we got on the bus?
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
▪
Everything she does, the clothes she wears and her boyfriends will be minutely scrutinized.
▪
He was six feet two, kept fit by riding daily in Central Park, and always wore jodhpurs to work.
▪
It works less, rests more, and consequently takes a much longer time to wear out.
▪
Suitable for people who wear glasses.
▪
The other, facing us, wears aqua, four thin black stripes low on her hips.
▪
There is no reason to wear your watch this way, except that your father told you to do so.
II. noun
COLLOCATIONS FROM CORPUS
■ ADJECTIVE
casual
▪
She knew perfectly well from the many Press photos of him that he preferred casual wear .
▪
Consequently, we're seeing it more on the high street as casual wear .
▪
Today's look is still smart - even casual wear is part of mainstream fashion.
▪
Our handsome first edition covers everything from suits to casual wear .
▪
There was to be a show in the morning, mainly of street and casual wear .
▪
He was dressed in casual wear: grey sweater and slacks with knife edge creases.
▪
Smart casual wear is quite in order for dinner time, but bring one cocktail dress for the Captain's cocktail party.
■ NOUN
evening
▪
The collection includes day wear , evening wear and stunning ballgowns.
▪
The band, dressed in evening wear and sitting on a raised dais, were at the far end of the hall.
▪
However, for slinky evening wear , black, be it opaque or sheer, is still the right choice.
▪
First, sartorial simplicity is always best - evening wear is not fancy dress.
▪
For details of evening wear hire departments in Britain see page 134.
▪
Two styles, equally elegant, each suited to day or evening wear .
▪
Red satin, stripes or dots will not do. Evening wear is ceremonial dress.
leisure
▪
Details of a deal with leisure wear company Cotton Traders will be announced shortly.
▪
In the following series the reliance on women in fishnet leisure wear became a bit obvious.
▪
Sally is into high street leisure wear and casual daytime things rather than glitzy disco gear.
▪
The typical leisure wear at the ryokan is a blue and white cotton robe known as a yukata provided by the management.
■ VERB
show
▪
The forefoot showed excessive wear while the heel remained relatively unscathed.
▪
Replace anything that is showing signs of wear and always have a strong safety leash joining the rig to the board.
▪
And who could blame him for showing a little wear ?
▪
The flats had been built ten years earlier and showed wear badly.
▪
Some items suffered from more than one specific defect, while others suffered from none, showing merely general wear and tear.
▪
However, they are more expensive, require more complicated care procedure and are more likely to show signs of wear .
PHRASES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
if the cap fits (, wear it)
take on/assume/wear the mantle of sth
▪
Against all expectations, it has not taken on the mantle of best pupil in the euro class.
the worse for wear
▪
Architectural details there were few and those were the worse for wear.
▪
But I can see he's the worse for wear, the weathering the worker wreaks on himself.
▪
But I digress ... We are all somewhat the worse for wear after a long night in the hotel bar.
▪
Here I was, returning from a presidential mission, and plainly the worse for wear.
▪
It was a long evening, and he arrived home at two in the morning, much the worse for wear.
▪
John McGuire was slightly the worse for wear after his night out with his wife.
▪
They were a bit the worse for wear; the flat was not clean and was damp.
wear sackcloth and ashes
▪
I have no wish to see Aitken go through the rest of his life wearing sackcloth and ashes.
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
▪
a shop that specializes in evening wear
▪
After five years, the stadium is beginning to show signs of wear .
▪
Dalton said that the machine showed signs of heavy wear and had not been well-maintained.
▪
Excessive tyre wear may be caused by faulty brakes.
▪
The company's line of casual wear is primarily sold in large discount chain stores.
▪
This type of sofa can take a lot of wear .
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
▪
An inner spiral has also been added to deflect swirling grain from the cyclone's inlet pipe, minimising wear .
▪
Architectural details there were few and those were the worse for wear .
▪
It is sometimes possible to determine when this procedure has been used, by examining the wear patterns of the gears.