MACMILLAN
COLLOC$SAM
bend
23 ➔ wrong belief mistaken, superstitious, irrational, erroneous, false, misguided Antibiotic treatment is
bell
occasionally given in the mistaken belief that a sore throat is a bacterial infection.
N+v ring, toll, chime, clang, sound, peal, tinkle, • jangle, jingle At nine o’clock the bell rings for
➔ held by many people popular, widespread, widely-held Contrary to popular belief there is no real link between Australia and New Zealand.
N+in-i resurrection, afterlife, reincarnation, • god/God, immortality The Egyptians had a strong belief in the afterlife, which they considered to be very similar to that of the living.
believable
ADJ
adv+ADJ very convincing totally, utterly, • entirely, completely, wholly, very, thoroughly, quite The novel features sympathetic, vividly drawn and wholly believable characters. ➔ hard to believe scarcely, barely, hardly It is hardly believable that he could not support a small family like his own.
•
ADJ+n character, story, characterization, acting, dialogue, performance, plot The actors perform brilliantly and really make the story believable and life-like.
believe
V INFORMAL to think that something is true adv+V strongly firmly, passionately, strongly, • fervently, wholeheartedly He believes strongly in the benefits of credit unions to local communities.
➔ sincerely honestly, sincerely, genuinely, truly I
genuinely believe I am making a difference by being vegetarian.
➔ mistakenly mistakenly, wrongly, erroneously
He said teenagers were taking up smoking because they wrongly believed it would help them lose weight.
➔ many people believe something widely, generally It is now widely believed that climate change is resulting in wetter, colder winters and drier, hotter summers.
Usage Believe is usually used in the passive construction ’it is believed that’ in these combinations. V+in-i think that something exists reincarnation, • resurrection, god/God, ghosts, afterlife, miracles, fairies, magic, immortality In Asian cultures such as China, many people believe in reincarnation.
➔ think that something is good democracy, freedom, equality I strongly believe in the freedom of the Press no matter who or what they are.
V+n hype, lie, propaganda, promise, myth 23 per • cent of children still believe the old myth that crusts make hair curly.
N an object that makes a ringing sound
morning tea.
ring, toll The church tolled its bell as a mark • ofv+Nsympathy for farmers yesterday. n+N church, sleigh, wedding, door, curfew, cow, • fire, bicycle, school The front door bell rang and when she answered, there stood a handsome young man.
belongings
N the things you own adj+N personal personal, worldly, own Nothing • compares to the misery of losing all of your worldly belongings in a fire.
➔ few meagre, few Thousands of people are fleeing the cities with their meagre belongings.
v+N get together pack, collect, gather, remove, • retrieve, pack up She had less than an hour to gather her belongings before she was bundled onto a plane. ➔ put somewhere store, keep, put Most hotels have a separate locker room where you can store your belongings. ➔ protect insure, protect, cover You may find that your household insurance covers your personal belongings while you are on holiday. ➔ take what belongs to someone steal, take A number of cars were broken into and belongings stolen.
benchmark
N ACADEMIC a standard for judging other things v+N set a standard set, establish, provide, • become, create, represent, define, be, serve as By carefully setting benchmarks, each agent’s performance can be monitored.
➔ perform in relation to a standard outperform, underperform, achieve, exceed, meet, surpass Organisations who would like to secure approved status would have to meet a fairly high benchmark.
adj+N good useful, appropriate, clear, relevant, • important, good, recognized, agreed A ratio of one infection control nurse to 250 beds is a good benchmark.
➔ applying across a particular area national, international, global, industry Energy use is monitored against national benchmarks.
N+for-i excellence, quality, performance, • good/best practice, standards, success It will set a benchmark for standards which other manufactures will be measured against.
believer
N someone who believes in an idea or a religion
bend
adj+N believing strongly in something true, • firm, fervent, strong, great, staunch, passionate
adj+N narrow and dangerous sharp, tight, blind, • dangerous, hairpin The vehicle they were passengers
Bob is a passionate believer in the importance of early years education.
➔ religious Christian, Jewish, orthodox, Muslim, devout Natural death is in the patient’s best interest and is the most dignified death for a Muslim believer.
N a curve in a road, river etc
in rolled over on a hairpin bend.
➔ wide sweeping, slight, gentle The roads were
great – smooth and dry, with wide sweeping bends.
➔ direction right-hand, left-hand Take the track at the sharp right-hand bend in the road.
Input Data Services Ltd 05-14-2009 13:37:42