You might think of The dictionary covers the following types of word combination:In addition, short phrases including the headword are included: Most of the collocations in the dictionary can be called ‘word collocations’, that is, these are the precise words that combine with each other: With adjectives, often a wide range of modifying adverbs can be used. But they are still hampered by trying to provide a whole range of information about any word besides its collocations. It provides us with the evidence of how language is used in real situations, which we use as the basis for our dictionary entries. The labels Where a collocate has different spellings in British and American English it is given as a slashed alternative: Some collocations are used far more frequently in British or American English simply because they refer to institutions that are particular to the UK or the US. Oxford University Press is a department of the University of Oxford. The collocations in each entry are divided according to part of speech; within each part of speech section they are grouped according to meaning or category. Where appropriate, headwords, meanings and collocations are labelled to show that they are used only, or especially, in one variety of English or the other.
You can change your cookie settings at any time. The whole dictionary has been designed to be accessible, and (we hope) enjoyable to use.Oxford University Press is a department of the University of Oxford. A collocational dictionary doesn’t have to generalize to the same extent: it covers the entire language (or a large part of it!) Compare, for example, the following two sentences:Both sentences are perfectly ‘correct’ in terms of grammar and vocabulary, but which communicates more? Might a student of English want to express this idea? High schools are found in the US, not normally in the UK; but the term may be used in British English to refer to this type of US school.
The questions asked were: is this a typical use of language? The aim was to give the full range of collocation – from the fairly weak (Totally free combinations are excluded and so, for the most part, are idioms. The Oxford English Corpus is a database of almost two billion words of text in English taken from up-to-date sources from around the world, ensuring that we have the most accurate information about word behaviour possible.By analysing the corpus and using special software, we can see words in context and find out how they combine with other words.
important, main, major, relevant, significant one of the most significant factors | critical, crucial, deciding, decisive, determining, key, vital This is regarded as the crucial factor in deciding who should get priority. By continuing to use our website, you are agreeing to our use of cookies. Money proved to be the deciding factor.
These are not full definitions, but rather ‘sense discriminators’, just detailed enough to allow the senses to be distinguished.Register information (whether a word is formal or informal) is given when any pair of words in combination takes on a different register from the two words separately. the fact of remembering somebody/something and considering them/it when you do somethinga mental state achieved by concentrating on the present moment, while calmly accepting the feelings and thoughts that come to you, used as a technique to help you relaxA therapist may teach mindfulness, a concept borrowed from Zen Buddhism.Mindfulness is a way for body and mind to reconnect. Examples would be The most frequent usage label used in the dictionary is The dictionary also includes ten Special pages on different topics such as business, meetings and sport. For example, at the entry for Because this is a type of dictionary that may be totally new to many students, it is recommended that users familiarize themselves with how the dictionary works by working This is particularly true of very strictly defined sets such as days of the week, months and points of the compass, but it also applies to slightly less rigid, but still limited sets such as currencies, weights and measures, and meals. Meaning, pronunciation, picture, example sentences, grammar, usage notes, synonyms and more.