I. choice 1 S1 W1 /tʃɔɪs/ BrE AmE noun
[ Date: 1200-1300 ; Language: Old French ; Origin: chois , from choisir 'to choose' ]
1 . [uncountable and countable] if you have a choice, you can choose between several things ⇨ choose
choice between
Voters have a choice between three main political parties.
choice of
You have a choice of hotel or self-catering accommodation.
He has to make some important choices.
They gave us no choice in the matter.
2 . [singular, uncountable] the range of people or things that you can choose from:
It was a small shop and there wasn’t much choice.
choice of
There is a choice of four different colours.
We offer a wide choice of wines and beers.
Consumers these days are spoilt for choice British English (=have a lot of things to choose from) .
3 . [countable] the person or thing that someone chooses
choice of
I don’t really like her choice of jewellery.
I think London was a good choice as a venue.
sb’s first/second choice
My first choice of college was Stanford.
4 . by choice if you do something by choice, you do it because you want to do it and not because you are forced to do it:
She lives alone by choice.
5 . the something of your choice the person or thing of your choice is the one that you would most like to choose:
My children cannot go to the school of their choice.
6 . the something of choice the thing of choice is the one that people prefer to use:
It is the drug of choice for this type of illness.
⇨ HOBSON’S CHOICE
• • •
COLLOCATIONS
■ verbs
▪ have a choice
Students have a choice between German and Spanish.
▪ make a choice (=choose something)
One of our course advisors can help you to make your choice.
▪ give somebody a choice
Her doctor gave her a choice: take medicine or lose weight.
▪ be faced with a choice
He was faced with a difficult choice.
▪ have no choice (but to do something)
The men had no choice but to obey.
▪ leave somebody with no choice
I was left with no choice but to resign.
▪ exercise your choice formal (=make a choice - used especially when talking about someone using their right to choose)
Everyone should have the right to exercise choice in matters of relationships.
■ ADJECTIVES/NOUN + choice
▪ the right/wrong choice
I think you’ve made the right choice.
▪ a difficult choice
It was a very difficult choice for me.
▪ a stark choice (=a choice between two unpleasant things that you must make)
We faced a stark choice: steal or starve.
▪ (a) free choice
Students have an entirely free choice of what to study at university.
▪ an informed choice (=a choice based on knowledge of the facts about something)
The patient should have enough information to make an informed choice.
▪ consumer choice (=the opportunity for people to choose between different products)
I believe in free trade and consumer choice.
▪ parental choice
The aim is to extend parental choice in education.
■ phrases
▪ freedom of choice
Patients should have more freedom of choice.
▪ given the choice (=if you had a choice)
Given the choice, I probably wouldn’t work.
▪ have no choice in the matter
The village people had no choice in the matter.
• • •
THESAURUS
▪ choice : choice of :
The school seems OK, but there isn’t a great choice of courses.
| have a choice (=be able to choose from several things) :
With her high grades and athletic skill, Celeste had her choice of colleges.
| have no choice but to do something (=to be forced to do something because there is nothing else you can choose) :
Spooner says he had no choice but to file for bankruptcy.
| wide choice (=a lot of things to choose from) :
There is a wide choice of hotels and hostels in the town.
▪ option one of the things that you can choose to do in a particular situation:
He basically has two options: he can have the surgery, or he can give up playing football.
| keep/leave your options open (=delay choosing so that you continue to have several things to choose from) :
I haven’t signed any contracts yet – I want to keep my options open.
▪ alternative one of two or more ways of doing something:
Did you consider other alternatives before you moved in with Lucy?
| alternative to :
There is no practical alternative to our current policy.
| have no alternative (=to not have a choice) :
He says he doesn’t want to see a doctor, but I’m afraid he has no alternative.
• • •
THESAURUS
▪ choice something or someone that has been chosen:
Maria was very pleased with her choice.
| first/second/third choice (=the thing you wanted most, the thing you wanted most after that etc) :
Greece was our first choice for a vacation, but all the flights were full.
| somebody’s choice of :
I don’t like his choice of friends.
▪ selection a small group of the best things that have been chosen from a larger group: selection of :
She showed me a selection of her drawings.
|
a selection of songs from ‘West Side Story’
II. choice 2 BrE AmE adjective
1 . [only before noun] formal choice food is of very good quality:
choice steak
We select only the choicest apples for our pies.
2 . a few choice words/phrases if you use a few choice words, you say exactly what you mean in an angry way:
He told us what he thought of the idea in a few choice words.