I. adjective
COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES
a good/bad/ill omen
▪
The mist seemed like a bad omen and Sara’s heart sank a little.
a seriously ill/critically ill patient
▪
The ward was packed with seriously ill patients.
a seriously ill/critically ill patient
▪
The ward was packed with seriously ill patients.
a situation worsens/deteriorates/gets worse
▪
Reports from the area suggest the situation has worsened.
assume the worst (= think that the worst possible thing had happened )
▪
When it got to midnight and Paul was still not back, I began to assume the worst .
be bigger/smaller/worse etc than you had imagined
▪
The job interview proved to be much worse than I had imagined it would be.
desperately poor/ill/tired etc
▪
He was desperately ill with a fever.
ill feeling
▪
‘I’m sorry. No ill feeling?’ ‘None,’ she replied.
ill health
▪
He retired early due to ill health.
ill will
▪
He said the accusation had been made from hatred and ill will.
least worst
▪
Often it’s a question of choosing the least worst option.
longer/higher/worse etc than usual
▪
It is taking longer than usual for orders to reach our customers.
make sth the best/worst/most expensive etc
▪
Over 80,000 people attended, making it the biggest sporting event in the area.
make things worse/easier/difficult
▪
Measures to slow down traffic on the main street have actually made things worse.
mentally ill
of the worst/best etc kind
▪
This is hypocrisy of the worst kind.
physically ill/sick
▪
The thought made her feel physically ill.
prepared for the worst (= expected something very bad )
▪
There was no news and we were prepared for the worst .
sb's eyesight gets worse/deteriorates
▪
Your eyesight gradually deteriorates with age.
sb's hearing gets worse ( also sb's hearing deteriorates )
▪
The medication seemed to make her hearing get worse.
sb's worst nightmare (= the worst possible situation )
▪
The outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease was farming's worst nightmare.
sb’s worst/greatest fear
▪
Her worst fear was never seeing her children again.
seriously ill
▪
Her mother is seriously ill in hospital.
severely ill formal:
▪
a hospital ward for severely ill patients
significantly better/greater/worse etc
▪
Delia’s work has been significantly better this year.
speak ill of sb (= say bad things about them )
▪
She never speaks ill of him.
take a turn for the worse/better
▪
Two days after the operation, Dad took a turn for the worse.
the best/worst kind
▪
Not knowing what had happened to her was the worst kind of torture.
the best/worst part
▪
The worst part was having to work even when it was raining.
the pain gets worse
▪
If the pain gets any worse, see your doctor.
the very best/latest/worst etc
▪
We only use the very best ingredients.
the worst hit
▪
The south of the country is the worst hit by the recession.
the worst moment
▪
Standing on the edge waiting to do your bungee jump is the worst moment.
the worst offender
▪
Among causes of air pollution, car exhaust fumes may be the worst offender .
the worst recession
▪
Colombia is going through its worst recession in decades.
the worst scandal (= the biggest or most shocking )
▪
Total losses resulting from India's worst financial scandal amounted to Rs31,000 million.
the worst-case/worst scenario (= the worst thing that might happen )
▪
The worst-case scenario is that it is already too late to do anything about global warming.
things get worse
▪
As the recession proceeds, things will get worse.
violently sick/ill
▪
He rushed to the bathroom, where he was violently sick.
went from bad to worse (= got even worse )
▪
When she arrived, things just went from bad to worse !
worse off
▪
The rent increases will leave us worse off.
worse than useless (= not useful, and causing harm or problems )
▪
It would be worse than useless to try and complain about him.
worst excesses
▪
He lived through some of the worst excesses of apartheid in South Africa.
COLLOCATIONS FROM CORPUS
■ ADVERB
critically
▪
The abilities of staff and availability of facilities to care for critically ill patients vary in all areas of health care.
▪
If the infant is critically ill , we talk with them at least twice a day.
▪
In April 1946, Moritz was critically ill .
▪
He was taken to hospital critically ill with severe head injuries - leaving girlfriend Donna Lorenz, 23, speechless.
▪
Last night Suzanne was critically ill in intensive care at Withington Hospital.
▪
It will be the first journal to make immediately available findings that could save or extend the lives of critically ill patients.
▪
The unprovoked attack has left the man critically ill in hospital.
mentally
▪
Certainly those working with the mentally ill or the handicapped or the senile or in health education may properly think it is.
▪
Were these people normal or abnormal? Mentally ill or healthy?
▪
Firstly, the old person must be clinically diagnosed as mentally ill .
▪
The fact that Mississippi continues to hold people in jail simply because they are mentally ill is unacceptable and inhumane.
▪
Two psychiatrists said that although Bourgois was mentally ill they did not believe he needed to be detained further.
▪
The mentally ill are also committing crimes.
▪
Private insurance schemes clearly do not wish to become involved with either the mentally ill or the chronically sick.
▪
Unlike many of the mentally ill , epileptics often have quite a bit of insight into their problem.
seriously
▪
Becky Blandford, who's still seriously ill more than forty eight hours after a hunting accident.
▪
Making matters worse , our system financially punishes people for being seriously ill and not dying quickly enough.
▪
The Marchioness of Blandford is still seriously ill from head injuries after a hunting accident at the weekend.
▪
The Empress, who had been seriously ill , died of diabetes soon afterwards.
▪
The sole survivor, Barry O'Shaughnessy, 19, was seriously ill in hospital last night.
▪
The other man, said to be a workmate, is seriously ill .
▪
Two men were killed in Monday's explosion at Castleford, Yorks, and three are still seriously ill in hospital.
▪
Key forward Tom Cleland was missing after his wife was taken to hospital early this morning seriously ill .
terminally
▪
It reminded her of a conference of terminally ill teetotallers.
▪
Ray, now 69 and terminally ill with liver disease, has repeatedly changed his story over the years.
▪
Theirs had been a terminally ill situation with so few worshippers in so large and expensive a building.
▪
It is a small group of volunteers who counsel patients who are terminally ill .
▪
The hospice movement, in its care of the terminally ill , is the living recognition of these sombre facts.
▪
Who could blame a wife, herself elderly and in poor health, for suggesting suicide to her terminally ill husband?
▪
A high proportion of us die not at home, but in hospitals, clinics and special institutions for the terminally ill .
▪
They represent a group of terminally ill patients and their doctors.
■ NOUN
health
▪
Thus, informal admissions were characterized by a combination of mental ill health and transgression of traditional social role expectations.
▪
Very likely physicians would not recommend the exercise of that or of any other trade as a remedy for ill health .
▪
Some of them were so nasty that they had learned to disguise most symptoms of ill health from her.
▪
There are a whole lot of senators in worse health than Strom Thurmond.
▪
Half of those not employed gave ill health as the reason.
▪
She was starting at zero as she had very poor schooling due to ill health .
▪
But we wanted to explore the causes of ill health further.
▪
In his later years he suffered ill health and his work was curtailed.
will
▪
He accused his estranged wife of being paranoid - but said he felt no ill will toward her.
▪
Months of pent-up anger, frustration, and ill will were vented at Scottsdale.
▪
Could she have treated him to similar displays of ill will as she showed her daughter?
▪
Denying his guilt to the last, he said he didn't bear his wife any ill will .
▪
This is accepted as part of the natural order and causes no ill will amongst the Knightly Orders.
PHRASES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
a fate worse than death
▪
I knew that Grandma's visit would be a fate worse than death.
▪
After all, she didn't know him, and a fate worse than death might just be awaiting her.
▪
It certainly wasn't because he was trying to save her from a Fate Worse than Death.
▪
There are various Pelagias who are known as penitent harlots or virgin martyrs who died to escape a fate worse than death.
▪
We've even growled at the horse, and threatened it with a fate worse than death, but to no avail!
at (the) worst
▪
Many drivers feel their job is unpleasant at best, and dangerous at worst .
▪
Developing these required equations is at best difficult and at worst nearly impossible.
▪
Him, with him: the worst man in the worst place at the worst time.
▪
If we drop a tin can probably nothing will happen; at the worst we may make a small dent.
▪
In most cases doing a course of any kind will, at worst , just be a small waste of time.
▪
Naturally, it happened at the worst possible time.
▪
Patient and neutral stares at worst .
▪
The first assumption of the Census Bureau, therefore, must be viewed as fatuous at worst , naive at best.
▪
Up until then I had sometimes seen writing as at best a compulsion and at worst a sickness.
at your best/worst/most effective etc
augur well/badly/ill
▪
Enjoyment of one's past job does not augur well for contentment in the role of housewife.
▪
In another development that does not augur well for transatlantic trade, Zoellick formally asked the U.S.
▪
It hardly augurs well - especially as none of them have won an international in Paris.
▪
Such potential augurs well for the 1990s.
▪
That augured well for the day.
▪
That, at least, augured well.
▪
This augurs well for the future and underlines the truth that music as a universal language is an important resource for ecumenism.
bad/ill feeling
▪
There have been bad feelings between area residents and police.
▪
Even though Amelia participated so little in school activities, she harbored no ill feelings toward Hyde Park.
▪
I figure there had to be some bad feeling .
▪
I got a very bad feeling as we pitched into the bathroom and-fumbled for the mouthwash.
▪
I have bad feelings for the smugglers, though.
▪
It's got bad feelings for me, this room.
▪
It was the start of bad feeling between the two.
▪
Jane Blasio harbors no ill feelings toward Hicks.
▪
There is no bad feeling between us.
be taken ill/sick
▪
At two years and a half, he was taken ill with pneumonia.
▪
During the siege of Bristol he was taken ill with the plague and again feared for his life.
▪
His sister ate one, and was taken ill.
▪
Several of the team were taken ill.
▪
Taylor, 47, was taken ill last week while working on his third album in a Florida recording studio.
▪
Then Mum had cancer and Dad was taken ill at work.
▪
We were just about to go abroad when our usual nanny was taken ill and was advised not to travel.
▪
Whilst in Fort William she was taken ill with stomach pains.
be your own worst enemy
▪
Many drivers are their own worst enemy -- driving too close, driving too fast, all the usual faults.
▪
My mother was her own worst enemy . She knew she was ill but she did nothing to help herself.
▪
In other words, we are our own worst enemy .
▪
My father was his own worst enemy .
▪
People are their own worst enemies .
▪
Players can be real snobs about names, too, so they are their own worst enemies .
▪
To what extent would she say she was her own worst enemy ?
▪
You could say that Gilly is her own worst enemy .
better/harder/worse etc still
▪
And 245 specialty stock funds that focus on particular industries did better still , averaging a 6. 5 percent gain.
▪
But perhaps the early evening was better still ?
▪
He didn't talk because he was afraid of losing the pole or, worse still , falling in.
▪
I started to hunt for a cheap restaurant or, better still , a snack shop.
▪
I thought that it would soon pass, and it did - for you to work harder still .
▪
Or better still , make a real talent show instead.
▪
Or better still , there was the village school practically next door!
▪
With hindsight, it would have better still to lock in a few more gains.
bode well/ill (for sb/sth)
▪
The results of the opinion poll do not bode well for the Democrats.
▪
Even if they are fictional characters, it doesn't bode well for the poor things.
▪
Somehow, it bodes well for the couture.
▪
The evening had, on reflection, never boded well.
▪
Things had connected, falling into a new shape - a shape that bode well for the future.
▪
Those numbers bode well for the Raiders.
▪
Unsurprisingly, refugees often fell into a torpid dependency, which did not bode well for the future.
▪
Word on the street is that Sub Pop refused the new Friends' second album, which may not bode well.
▪
Yet, conservation biologists have begun to wonder if these long-hoped-for changes bode well for the land.
bring out the best/worst in sb
▪
Ingram always seems to bring out the best in his players.
▪
And Vince was obviously a great coach; he brought out the best in his team and whoever played him.
▪
But the Washington Wizards have a way of bringing out the best in their opponents.
▪
But, says Markert, there is something about one-way communication that can also bring out the worst in people.
▪
Campaigns seem to bring out the worst in Bob Dole.
▪
It brings out the best in us.
▪
Maybe something like they tend to bring out the best in us.
▪
So, to bring out the best in your cooking make sure you use the purest soy sauce, Kikkoman Soy Sauce.
▪
Yet it was not an unsuccessful attempt to bring out the best in his audience.
come off best/better/worst etc
▪
Alec Davidson, for example, was one of those who came off worst.
▪
Bullock comes off best because her complaining seems so valid.
▪
His foster-child comes off best, but in addition each of two nurses receives a tenth of his estate.
▪
It may seem, so far, that in terms of clearly defined benefits, the client comes off best out of the deal.
▪
Prior to that Meath had come off best when they accounted for Down in the 1990 league decider.
▪
The lightning, it seemed to Lydia, had undoubtedly come off best in that encounter.
▪
The problem is that history sometimes comes off better.
couldn't be better/worse/more pleased etc
critically ill/injured
▪
A businessman walking to his car was struck by lightning and critically injured as co-workers watched in awe.
▪
He was taken to hospital critically ill with severe head injuries - leaving girlfriend Donna Lorenz, 23, speechless.
▪
If the infant is critically ill, we talk with them at least twice a day.
▪
In April 1946, Moritz was critically ill.
▪
Last night Suzanne was critically ill in intensive care at Withington Hospital.
▪
The abilities of staff and availability of facilities to care for critically ill patients vary in all areas of health care.
do your/his/her/their worst
▪
Let her do her worst to reach him.
▪
Sometimes they successfully slowed or blocked the path of the conquistadores when these exploiters were out to do their worst .
expect/fear the worst
▪
Distillery boss Billy Hamilton fears the worst after Heath was assisted off in the second-half with a torn calf muscle.
▪
From what he has heard he fears the worst about the likelihood of a quick turnaround on the field.
▪
I knew I was being irrational but I began to fear the worst .
▪
Leading the mob assault into the fisherman's cabin, the pastor expects the worst .
▪
Only then did we begin to fear the worst .
▪
Quite frankly we expected the worst .
fear the worst
▪
Fearing the worst, police have called in reinforcements to help control the crowds.
▪
After I hadn't heard from him for several hours, I began to fear the worst.
▪
Rescuers feared the worst for the men trapped in the mine.
▪
I knew I was being irrational but I began to fear the worst.
▪
Mind you, I feared the worst for this year's crop of pantomimes.
▪
Only then did we begin to fear the worst.
▪
Rumours about impending changes will occur anyway, and staff not fully informed are likely to fear the worst.
▪
Then they called police and stayed up all night -- fearing the worst.
for better or (for) worse
▪
The reality is that, for better or worse, the world of publishing has changed.
▪
All five, for better or worse, have received recent votes of confidence from their respective general managers or team presidents.
▪
And for better or worse, the new interactivity brings enormous political leverage to ordinary citizens at relatively little cost.
▪
And the consequences could be even more startling, for better or for worse.
▪
Decisions made in any of these places can hit our pocketbooks and our peace of mind, for better or for worse.
▪
He has toted the ball and the expectations, for better or worse.
▪
He was her husband ... for better or worse, he was her husband.
▪
Medical students in prolonged contact with junior doctors learn attitudes by example, for better or for worse.
▪
Today we know for better or for worse that cops, like doctors and priests, are merely human.
get/have the worst of it
▪
I should not have exasperated him for I always have the worst of it.
if the worst comes to the worst
ill at ease
▪
Dave always looks ill at ease in a suit.
▪
Rehnquist sometimes can appear ill at ease in public.
▪
And all of this is inevitable, for Utopians are ill at ease at the sharp end of politics.
▪
By the way, most women are very ill at ease when you call them out from the jury pool.
▪
He is extremely ill at ease .
▪
He looked about him, for once strangely ill at ease , disconcerted to learn that she had ridden off ahead of him.
▪
If people are already ill at ease in unfamiliar surroundings the order of service becomes another pressure.
▪
Nevertheless, their formality sits ill at ease with Esau's spontaneous show of love.
▪
The thought of confinement can make me ill at ease .
▪
They looked ill at ease in the same camera frame.
in a good/an ill/a bad humour
none the worse/better etc (for sth)
▪
Although the animal glowed rosy-pink, it appeared none the worse for its ordeal.
▪
I recovered, my mouth none the worse for it, after all.
▪
Peter's little pet was clearly none the worse for its time in the underworld.
sb's bark is worse than their bite
sb's worst fears were realized
▪
My worst fears were realized when I saw the test questions.
▪
His worst fears were realized and he was arrested.
take a turn for the worse
▪
Stock prices have taken a turn for the worse .
the biggest/worst etc (sth) yet
▪
And the worst was yet to come.
▪
Her third night here and it had been the worst one yet .
▪
No, the worst ... Yet is she listening now?
▪
That was the worst task yet , as Psyche saw when she approached the waterfall.
▪
The decision opens the biggest policy rift yet between Holyrood and Westminster.
▪
The two have returned from a disastrous holiday in Greecebut the worst is yet to come.
the worst
▪
Most of the girls were pretty mean, but Sabrina was the worst .
the worst of sth
▪
Against the far wall, shielded from the worst of the rain, were five bodies neatly laid out.
▪
And the worst of the caregivers were a disaster.
▪
And then there's you. ` ` Me? ` ` You're the worst of the lot.
▪
At this moment in history, however, the White House personifies the worst of political greed and excess.
▪
Black people, for example, need not imitate the worst of white competitive consumers.
▪
By the middle of the next afternoon, the worst of the headache was gone.
▪
On the eve of the council the worst of horrors was revealed.
▪
Would she ring the warning bell that cushioned the little fellow from the worst of it?
think the best/worst of sb
▪
Ellie's the type of person that always thinks the best of people.
▪
He thought the worst of Mitch and clearly thought that left to herself she would ring London at once.
▪
I was so ready to think the worst of him, she wailed inwardly.
▪
My immediate reaction, whether it be a man or a woman, is to think the worst of them.
▪
The prospect of Guy leaving, thinking the worst of her, was unbearable.
▪
Why should you think the worst of me?
▪
You always think the worst of me.
worse luck
▪
Bad luck for Venus, worse luck for the 12,000 fans, but hey, what can you do?
▪
I have to go to secretarial school, worse luck .
▪
Nearly all gone now, worse luck , and the guv'nor's arrived to read the riot act.
▪
You're a bad agent and you're worse luck .
▪
You go up there with the wrong attitude and come out with worse luck than you had before.
worst of all
▪
Mike's so boring, and worst of all he never stops talking.
▪
And worst of all, the Hare got rid Of far more than the Tortoise did.
▪
And worst of all, their services are no longer in demand.
▪
And, worst of all, you don't remember who you are.
▪
But worst of all were the comparisons being made between Monty Clift and Jekyll and Hyde.
▪
Or, worst of all, exploding at work?
▪
Perhaps worst of all, there are those stressful situations where one is accustomed to turn to tobacco for support.
▪
The twelfth labor was the worst of all.
▪
To abuse hospitality was the most horrid thing; worst of all.
you would be well/ill advised to do sth
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
▪
All that week, Catherine lay ill , drifting in and out of consciousness.
▪
Apparently Don's wife is seriously ill , and they think it might be cancer.
▪
Mel was so ill that she had to stay in bed for a month.
▪
Mentally ill patients have the same rights as anyone else.
▪
psychological support for terminally ill patients
▪
The baby caught a virus and became critically ill .
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
▪
Her makeup so unbelievably dramatic, so abnormal, she looked mentally ill .
▪
I felt helpless and despairing and suddenly so ill that I had to clutch at the door to stop myself falling.
▪
One civil servant has retired on ill health grounds and two downgraded.
II. adverb
COLLOCATIONS FROM CORPUS
■ VERB
afford
▪
Many of them are in fact very poor and can ill afford their habit.
▪
The nation could ill afford a logy commander-in-chief in the event of nuclear attack.
▪
But Kevin Curren struck some crucial blows - runs that Warwickshire could ill afford to concede at this stage of the match.
▪
Often it is something they can ill afford .
▪
He could ill afford to lose such support in 1946, the year of the mid-term elections.
▪
Sotheby's can ill afford to have its auction prices called into question.
▪
There may be no alternative to leave of absence, even though the nurse can ill afford the loss of income.
▪
Hadn't she already taken time off work which she could ill afford in her sister's interests?
PHRASES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
a fate worse than death
▪
I knew that Grandma's visit would be a fate worse than death.
▪
After all, she didn't know him, and a fate worse than death might just be awaiting her.
▪
It certainly wasn't because he was trying to save her from a Fate Worse than Death.
▪
There are various Pelagias who are known as penitent harlots or virgin martyrs who died to escape a fate worse than death.
▪
We've even growled at the horse, and threatened it with a fate worse than death, but to no avail!
at (the) worst
▪
Many drivers feel their job is unpleasant at best, and dangerous at worst .
▪
Developing these required equations is at best difficult and at worst nearly impossible.
▪
Him, with him: the worst man in the worst place at the worst time.
▪
If we drop a tin can probably nothing will happen; at the worst we may make a small dent.
▪
In most cases doing a course of any kind will, at worst , just be a small waste of time.
▪
Naturally, it happened at the worst possible time.
▪
Patient and neutral stares at worst .
▪
The first assumption of the Census Bureau, therefore, must be viewed as fatuous at worst , naive at best.
▪
Up until then I had sometimes seen writing as at best a compulsion and at worst a sickness.
at your best/worst/most effective etc
augur well/badly/ill
▪
Enjoyment of one's past job does not augur well for contentment in the role of housewife.
▪
In another development that does not augur well for transatlantic trade, Zoellick formally asked the U.S.
▪
It hardly augurs well - especially as none of them have won an international in Paris.
▪
Such potential augurs well for the 1990s.
▪
That augured well for the day.
▪
That, at least, augured well.
▪
This augurs well for the future and underlines the truth that music as a universal language is an important resource for ecumenism.
bad/ill feeling
▪
There have been bad feelings between area residents and police.
▪
Even though Amelia participated so little in school activities, she harbored no ill feelings toward Hyde Park.
▪
I figure there had to be some bad feeling .
▪
I got a very bad feeling as we pitched into the bathroom and-fumbled for the mouthwash.
▪
I have bad feelings for the smugglers, though.
▪
It's got bad feelings for me, this room.
▪
It was the start of bad feeling between the two.
▪
Jane Blasio harbors no ill feelings toward Hicks.
▪
There is no bad feeling between us.
be none the worse for sth
be taken ill/sick
▪
At two years and a half, he was taken ill with pneumonia.
▪
During the siege of Bristol he was taken ill with the plague and again feared for his life.
▪
His sister ate one, and was taken ill.
▪
Several of the team were taken ill.
▪
Taylor, 47, was taken ill last week while working on his third album in a Florida recording studio.
▪
Then Mum had cancer and Dad was taken ill at work.
▪
We were just about to go abroad when our usual nanny was taken ill and was advised not to travel.
▪
Whilst in Fort William she was taken ill with stomach pains.
be your own worst enemy
▪
Many drivers are their own worst enemy -- driving too close, driving too fast, all the usual faults.
▪
My mother was her own worst enemy . She knew she was ill but she did nothing to help herself.
▪
In other words, we are our own worst enemy .
▪
My father was his own worst enemy .
▪
People are their own worst enemies .
▪
Players can be real snobs about names, too, so they are their own worst enemies .
▪
To what extent would she say she was her own worst enemy ?
▪
You could say that Gilly is her own worst enemy .
be your own worst enemy
▪
In other words, we are our own worst enemy.
▪
My father was his own worst enemy.
▪
People are their own worst enemies.
▪
Players can be real snobs about names, too, so they are their own worst enemies.
▪
To what extent would she say she was her own worst enemy?
▪
You could say that Gilly is her own worst enemy.
better/harder/worse etc still
▪
And 245 specialty stock funds that focus on particular industries did better still , averaging a 6. 5 percent gain.
▪
But perhaps the early evening was better still ?
▪
He didn't talk because he was afraid of losing the pole or, worse still , falling in.
▪
I started to hunt for a cheap restaurant or, better still , a snack shop.
▪
I thought that it would soon pass, and it did - for you to work harder still .
▪
Or better still , make a real talent show instead.
▪
Or better still , there was the village school practically next door!
▪
With hindsight, it would have better still to lock in a few more gains.
bode well/ill (for sb/sth)
▪
The results of the opinion poll do not bode well for the Democrats.
▪
Even if they are fictional characters, it doesn't bode well for the poor things.
▪
Somehow, it bodes well for the couture.
▪
The evening had, on reflection, never boded well.
▪
Things had connected, falling into a new shape - a shape that bode well for the future.
▪
Those numbers bode well for the Raiders.
▪
Unsurprisingly, refugees often fell into a torpid dependency, which did not bode well for the future.
▪
Word on the street is that Sub Pop refused the new Friends' second album, which may not bode well.
▪
Yet, conservation biologists have begun to wonder if these long-hoped-for changes bode well for the land.
bring out the best/worst in sb
▪
Ingram always seems to bring out the best in his players.
▪
And Vince was obviously a great coach; he brought out the best in his team and whoever played him.
▪
But the Washington Wizards have a way of bringing out the best in their opponents.
▪
But, says Markert, there is something about one-way communication that can also bring out the worst in people.
▪
Campaigns seem to bring out the worst in Bob Dole.
▪
It brings out the best in us.
▪
Maybe something like they tend to bring out the best in us.
▪
So, to bring out the best in your cooking make sure you use the purest soy sauce, Kikkoman Soy Sauce.
▪
Yet it was not an unsuccessful attempt to bring out the best in his audience.
come off best/better/worst etc
▪
Alec Davidson, for example, was one of those who came off worst.
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Bullock comes off best because her complaining seems so valid.
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His foster-child comes off best, but in addition each of two nurses receives a tenth of his estate.
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It may seem, so far, that in terms of clearly defined benefits, the client comes off best out of the deal.
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Prior to that Meath had come off best when they accounted for Down in the 1990 league decider.
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The lightning, it seemed to Lydia, had undoubtedly come off best in that encounter.
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The problem is that history sometimes comes off better.
come off worst
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Alec Davidson, for example, was one of those who came off worst .
couldn't be better/worse/more pleased etc
critically ill/injured
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A businessman walking to his car was struck by lightning and critically injured as co-workers watched in awe.
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He was taken to hospital critically ill with severe head injuries - leaving girlfriend Donna Lorenz, 23, speechless.
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If the infant is critically ill, we talk with them at least twice a day.
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In April 1946, Moritz was critically ill.
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Last night Suzanne was critically ill in intensive care at Withington Hospital.
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The abilities of staff and availability of facilities to care for critically ill patients vary in all areas of health care.
do your/his/her/their worst
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Let her do her worst to reach him.
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Sometimes they successfully slowed or blocked the path of the conquistadores when these exploiters were out to do their worst .
expect/fear the worst
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Distillery boss Billy Hamilton fears the worst after Heath was assisted off in the second-half with a torn calf muscle.
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From what he has heard he fears the worst about the likelihood of a quick turnaround on the field.
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I knew I was being irrational but I began to fear the worst .
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Leading the mob assault into the fisherman's cabin, the pastor expects the worst .
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Only then did we begin to fear the worst .
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Quite frankly we expected the worst .
fear the worst
▪
Fearing the worst, police have called in reinforcements to help control the crowds.
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After I hadn't heard from him for several hours, I began to fear the worst.
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Rescuers feared the worst for the men trapped in the mine.
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I knew I was being irrational but I began to fear the worst.
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Mind you, I feared the worst for this year's crop of pantomimes.
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Only then did we begin to fear the worst.
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Rumours about impending changes will occur anyway, and staff not fully informed are likely to fear the worst.
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Then they called police and stayed up all night -- fearing the worst.
for better or (for) worse
▪
The reality is that, for better or worse, the world of publishing has changed.
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All five, for better or worse, have received recent votes of confidence from their respective general managers or team presidents.
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And for better or worse, the new interactivity brings enormous political leverage to ordinary citizens at relatively little cost.
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And the consequences could be even more startling, for better or for worse.
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Decisions made in any of these places can hit our pocketbooks and our peace of mind, for better or for worse.
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He has toted the ball and the expectations, for better or worse.
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He was her husband ... for better or worse, he was her husband.
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Medical students in prolonged contact with junior doctors learn attitudes by example, for better or for worse.
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Today we know for better or for worse that cops, like doctors and priests, are merely human.
get/have the worst of it
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I should not have exasperated him for I always have the worst of it.
go from bad to worse
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The rail service has gone from bad to worse since it was privatised.
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The schools have gone from bad to worse in this area.
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Things went from bad to worse, and soon the pair were barely talking to each other.
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As 1931 went from bad to worse the possibility of another marriage began to seem her best hope of salvation.
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It went from bad to worse as the heavens opened and turned the circuit into one huge puddle.
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Matters continued to go from bad to worse.
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Matters went from bad to worse.
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On Ithaca, the island where his home was, things had gone from bad to worse.
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That they are going from bad to worse.
go from bad to worse
▪
As 1931 went from bad to worse the possibility of another marriage began to seem her best hope of salvation.
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It went from bad to worse as the heavens opened and turned the circuit into one huge puddle.
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Matters continued to go from bad to worse .
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Matters went from bad to worse .
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On Ithaca, the island where his home was, things had gone from bad to worse .
▪
That they are going from bad to worse .
if the worst comes to the worst
ill at ease
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Dave always looks ill at ease in a suit.
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Rehnquist sometimes can appear ill at ease in public.
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And all of this is inevitable, for Utopians are ill at ease at the sharp end of politics.
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By the way, most women are very ill at ease when you call them out from the jury pool.
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He is extremely ill at ease .
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He looked about him, for once strangely ill at ease , disconcerted to learn that she had ridden off ahead of him.
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If people are already ill at ease in unfamiliar surroundings the order of service becomes another pressure.
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Nevertheless, their formality sits ill at ease with Esau's spontaneous show of love.
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The thought of confinement can make me ill at ease .
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They looked ill at ease in the same camera frame.
in a good/an ill/a bad humour
none the worse/better etc (for sth)
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Although the animal glowed rosy-pink, it appeared none the worse for its ordeal.
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I recovered, my mouth none the worse for it, after all.
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Peter's little pet was clearly none the worse for its time in the underworld.
sb could do worse than do sth
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A woman could do worse than be a nurse.
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He could do worse than spend his evening keeping an eye on her.
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In groping for useful precedents, one could do worse than heed the tale of a man named Sherwood Rowland.
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The West could do worse than to base its policy towards the Middle East on that aspiration.
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You could do worse than take a leaf out of the health economists' book.
sb's bark is worse than their bite
sb's worst fears were realized
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My worst fears were realized when I saw the test questions.
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His worst fears were realized and he was arrested.
take a turn for the worse
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Stock prices have taken a turn for the worse .
the biggest/worst etc (sth) yet
▪
And the worst was yet to come.
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Her third night here and it had been the worst one yet .
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No, the worst ... Yet is she listening now?
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That was the worst task yet , as Psyche saw when she approached the waterfall.
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The decision opens the biggest policy rift yet between Holyrood and Westminster.
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The two have returned from a disastrous holiday in Greecebut the worst is yet to come.
the worse for wear
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Architectural details there were few and those were the worse for wear.
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But I can see he's the worse for wear, the weathering the worker wreaks on himself.
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But I digress ... We are all somewhat the worse for wear after a long night in the hotel bar.
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Here I was, returning from a presidential mission, and plainly the worse for wear.
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It was a long evening, and he arrived home at two in the morning, much the worse for wear.
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John McGuire was slightly the worse for wear after his night out with his wife.
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They were a bit the worse for wear; the flat was not clean and was damp.
the worst
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Most of the girls were pretty mean, but Sabrina was the worst .
the worst of sth
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Against the far wall, shielded from the worst of the rain, were five bodies neatly laid out.
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And the worst of the caregivers were a disaster.
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And then there's you. ` ` Me? ` ` You're the worst of the lot.
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At this moment in history, however, the White House personifies the worst of political greed and excess.
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Black people, for example, need not imitate the worst of white competitive consumers.
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By the middle of the next afternoon, the worst of the headache was gone.
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On the eve of the council the worst of horrors was revealed.
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Would she ring the warning bell that cushioned the little fellow from the worst of it?
think the best/worst of sb
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Ellie's the type of person that always thinks the best of people.
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He thought the worst of Mitch and clearly thought that left to herself she would ring London at once.
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I was so ready to think the worst of him, she wailed inwardly.
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My immediate reaction, whether it be a man or a woman, is to think the worst of them.
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The prospect of Guy leaving, thinking the worst of her, was unbearable.
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Why should you think the worst of me?
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You always think the worst of me.
worse luck
▪
Bad luck for Venus, worse luck for the 12,000 fans, but hey, what can you do?
▪
I have to go to secretarial school, worse luck .
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Nearly all gone now, worse luck , and the guv'nor's arrived to read the riot act.
▪
You're a bad agent and you're worse luck .
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You go up there with the wrong attitude and come out with worse luck than you had before.
worse luck
▪
Bad luck for Venus, worse luck for the 12,000 fans, but hey, what can you do?
▪
I have to go to secretarial school, worse luck.
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Nearly all gone now, worse luck, and the guv'nor's arrived to read the riot act.
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You're a bad agent and you're worse luck.
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You go up there with the wrong attitude and come out with worse luck than you had before.
worst of all
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Mike's so boring, and worst of all he never stops talking.
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And worst of all, the Hare got rid Of far more than the Tortoise did.
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And worst of all, their services are no longer in demand.
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And, worst of all, you don't remember who you are.
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But worst of all were the comparisons being made between Monty Clift and Jekyll and Hyde.
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Or, worst of all, exploding at work?
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Perhaps worst of all, there are those stressful situations where one is accustomed to turn to tobacco for support.
▪
The twelfth labor was the worst of all.
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To abuse hospitality was the most horrid thing; worst of all.
you would be well/ill advised to do sth
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
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The animals had been ill -treated by their owner.
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We were ill -prepared to camp out in the snow.
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
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If so, it seems ill mannered at best.
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The Crolgarian police are ill equipped for an investigation of this kind.
III. noun
COLLOCATIONS FROM CORPUS
■ ADJECTIVE
economic
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Immigrant workers, easy scapegoats for the newly reunited country's economic ills , have been the latest victims of bigoted violence.
▪
As well as Swindon's economic ills , she's hoping Dons can help cure her back pains.
▪
The mullahs were no better at curing characteristic third world socio-\#economic ills than the secular regimes they despised.
▪
Her comments on Radio Derby came as Tories tried to shift the blame for Britain's economic ills elsewhere.
▪
Investment is often portrayed as a cure-all for the economic ills of rich countries.
▪
From this perspective democratic politics, and the two-party system in particular, was the problem and the cause of our economic ills .
▪
A remedy for economic ills is suggested.
▪
Most corporate acquisitions achieve little for society as whole and tend to worsen economic ills in the older cities.
social
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Poor housing and other social ills provide no kind of reason for riot, arson and killing.
▪
Television is often blamed for all kinds of social ills !
■ VERB
cure
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Like Euripides she believed the sea could cure the ills of man.
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I believe my violence will cure their ills !
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
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Even though I don't agree with him, I do not wish Baxter any ill .
▪
Tuesday's game had to be cancelled because of illness.
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
▪
In the book, Godwin eloquently describes in words and photographs the ills our land is prey to.
▪
That was the rich man's panacea for the litany of ills of the poor.
▪
The Deputy Governor of Bullwood provided a comprehensive analysis of the system's ills before the Sub-Committee.