com ‧ pa ‧ ri ‧ son S3 W2 /kəmˈpærəs ə n, kəmˈpærɪs ə n/ BrE AmE noun
[ Word Family: noun : ↑ comparison , ↑ comparability , the comparative; adverb : ↑ comparatively , ↑ comparably ; adjective : ↑ comparable ≠ ↑ incomparable , ↑ comparative ; verb : ↑ compare ]
1 . COMPARING [uncountable] the process of comparing two or more people or things ⇨ compare , comparative
comparison with
Comparison with his previous movies shows how Lee has developed as a director.
in comparison (with/to something)
In comparison to other recent video games, this one isn’t very exciting.
He was a loud friendly man. In comparison, his brother was rather shy.
by comparison (with something)
By comparison with other European countries, car prices in the UK are very high.
After months of living in a tropical climate, Spain seemed cool by comparison.
for comparison (with something)
These figures are provided for comparison with the results of previous studies.
He showed us the original text for comparison.
Her paintings invite comparison with those of the early Impressionists (=they remind you of them) .
stand/bear comparison (=is as good as someone or something else)
Irving’s work bears comparison with the best of the modern novelists.
on comparison British English (=after you have compared two things to see if they are similar or different)
On comparison, the Renault was the more reliable of the two cars.
2 . JUDGMENT [countable] a statement or examination of how similar or different two people or things are
comparison of
a comparison of pollution levels in Chicago and Detroit
comparison between
The article makes a comparison between the two poems.
REGISTER
In written English, people often use draw a comparison rather than make a comparison , as it sounds more formal:
▪
The writer draws a comparison between the 1950s and the present day.
3 . BE LIKE SOMETHING [countable] a statement that someone or something is like someone or something else
(make/draw) a comparison between somebody/something (=show the similarities between two people or things)
The writer draws comparisons between the two presidents.
You can’t make a comparison between American and Japanese schools – they’re too different.
4 . there’s no comparison spoken used when you think that someone or something is much better than someone or something else
there’s no comparison between
There’s just no comparison between canned vegetables and fresh ones.
5 . GRAMMAR [uncountable] a word used in grammar meaning the way an adverb or adjective changes its form to show whether it is ↑ comparative or ↑ superlative
• • •
COLLOCATIONS (for Meaning 2)
■ verbs
▪ make a comparison (=compare people or things)
Using the Internet is an easy way to make comparisons between prices.
▪ draw a comparison (=say in what way people or things are similar)
People have drawn comparisons between this movie and those of Quentin Tarantino.
▪ provide a comparison
The test can be used to provide a comparison of a child's language development with that of other children.
■ ADJECTIVES/NOUN + comparison
▪ a direct comparison
You can’t really make a direct comparison between the the two schools.
▪ an interesting comparison
The exhibition provides an interesting comparison of the artists’ works.
▪ a valid/useful/meaningful comparison (=a reasonable one, based on sensible information)
There is not enough data for a valid comparison to be made.
▪ a fair/unfair comparison
A fair comparison between the two firms is extremely difficult.
▪ a favourable/unfavourable comparison (=in which one thing or person is judged to be better/worse than another)
My family was always making unfavourable comparisons between me and my older brother.
▪ a detailed comparison
Students had to write a detailed comparison of the two texts.
▪ a price comparison
A price comparison shopping site was launched last month.