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5B1: Health problems
English
Brahms' violin concert
a musical instrument that you hold under your chin and play by pulling a long object called a bow across its strings. Someone who plays a violin is called a violinist
Brahms' violin concerto
violin
noun
a musical instrument that you hold under your chin and play by moving a stick (called a bow) across the strings
violin
vi‧o‧lin /ˌvaɪəˈlɪn/ noun [countable]
[Date: 1500-1600; Language: Italian; Origin: violino, from viola; ⇨ viola]
a small wooden musical instrument that you hold under your chin and play by pulling a bow (=special stick) across the strings
violin
vio·lin[violinviolins] [ˌvaɪəˈlɪn] [ˌvaɪəˈlɪn]noun
a musical instrument with strings, that you hold under your chin and play with a bow
• Brahms' violin concerto
compare viola
see also fiddle
Word Origin:
late 16th cent.: from Italian violino, diminutive of viola (see viola).
Example Bank:
• Bach's sonatas and partitas for solo violin
• The cello is a member of the violin family.
Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary - 4th Edition
violin / ˌvaɪəˈlɪn / noun [ C ]
violin
A2 a wooden musical instrument with four strings that is held against the neck and played by moving a bow across the strings
© Cambridge University Press 2013
violin
[va͟ɪ͟əlɪ̱n]
violins
N-VAR: oft the N
A violin is a musical instrument. Violins are made of wood and have four strings. You play the violin by holding it under your chin and moving a bow across the strings.
Lizzie used to play the violin.
...the Brahms violin concerto in D.
violin
vi·o·lin /ˌvajəˈlɪn/ noun, pl -lins [count] : a musical instrument that has four strings and that you usually hold against your shoulder under your chin and play with a bow - called also (informal) fiddle;
air mail
letters, parcels etc that are delivered by the post office every day. The usual British word is post
air mail
(British also post) noun (no plural)
1 the way of sending and receiving letters and packages:
to send a letter by airmail
2 letters and packages that you send or receive:
Is there any mail for me?
Look also at email.
I. mail1 S3 W3 /meɪl/ BrE AmE noun [uncountable]
[Sense 1-3: Date: 1200-1300; Language: Old French; Origin: male 'bag']
[Sense 4: Date: 1200-1300; Language: French; Origin: maille, from Latin macula 'spot, woven threads']
1. the letters and packages that are delivered to you:
You shouldn't read other people's mail.
He found a mountain of mail waiting for him.
She promised to forward my mail to my new address (=send it from your old home or office to your new one).
He gets sacks of fan mail (=letters from people who admire him).
hate mail (=letters from people who hate you)
2. especially American English the system of collecting and delivering letters and packages SYN post British English:
The mail here’s really slow and unreliable.
The product will be sold mainly through the mail.
in the mail
I’ll put the check in the mail tomorrow.
by mail
Did you send the document by mail?
registered/express/first-class etc mail
I sent my application by registered mail.
Most reports are sent via internal mail (=a system of sending documents to people inside the same organization).
3. messages that are sent and received on a computer SYN email:
I check my mail a couple of times a day.
She's just received another mail message from them.
4. ↑armour made of small pieces of metal, worn by soldiers in the Middle Ages
⇨ ↑voice mail
• • •
COLLOCATIONS
■ verbs
▪ send mail Please do not send personal mail to my work address.
▪ get/receive mail Did we get any mail this morning?
▪ the mail comes/arrives The mail had come late that day.
▪ the mail goes (out) (=it leaves an organization to be sent) What time does the mail go out?
▪ read your mail The first thing he did was read his mail.
▪ open your mail She opened her mail as she ate her breakfast.
▪ forward/redirect somebody's mail (=send it to a new address) The post office will forward your mail for a limited time.
▪ deliver the mail The postman had just delivered the mail.
▪ sort mail (=put it into different piles, ready for delivery) Some mail still has to be sorted by hand.
■ ADJECTIVES/NOUN + mail
▪ personal/private mail (=for one person to read and nobody else) He accused her of reading his private mail.
▪ fan mail (=letters from fans) He gets so much fan mail he had to employ a secretary to deal with it.
▪ hate mail (=letters expressing hate) She got threatening phone calls and hate mail.
▪ junk mail (=letters, usually advertisements, that you do not want) I only ever get junk mail and bills.
▪ registered mail (=letters insured against loss or damage) You have to sign for registered mail.
mail [mail mails mailed mailing] noun, verb [meɪl] [meɪl]
noun uncountable
1. (BrE also post) the official system used for sending and delivering letters, packages, etc
• a mail service/train/van
• the Royal Mail
• Your cheque is in the mail.
• We do our business by mail.
see also airmail, snail mail, voicemail
2. (BrE also post) letters, packages, etc. that are sent and delivered
• There isn't much mail today.
• I sat down to open the mail.
• Is there a letter from them in the mail?
• hate mail (= letters containing insults and threats)
see also junk mail, surface mail
3. messages that are sent or received on a computer
• Check regularly for new mail.
see also electronic mail, email
4. used in the title of some newspapers
• the Mail on Sunday
5. = chain mail
• a coat of mail
Word Origin:
Middle English (in the sense ‘travelling bag’): from Old French male ‘wallet’, of West Germanic origin. The sense “by post” dates from the mid 17th cent.
Culture:
postal services
Most letters and packages posted in Britain are dealt with by the Royal Mail, which is part of the Royal Mail Group Ltd, together with Parcelforce, which delivers larger packages, and the Post Office, which manages the country’s many post offices. As well as selling stamps, post offices take in letters and packages that are to be sent by special delivery. Post offices also sell vehicle licences and often greetings cards and stationery. In villages they are often combined with a newsagent’s and general store. In recent years, many smaller post offices have been closed because they do not make a profit, though this often led to protests from local people.
Mail (= letters, bills, etc.) is often called post in British English. When sending a letter, people can choose between two levels of service, first class or the cheaper second class. Normally, first-class mail is delivered the day after it is posted and second-class mail within two or three days. Every address in Britain includes a postcode of letters and numbers, for example OX1 2PX for an address in Oxford, that makes it possible to sort the post by machine. Letters are posted in red postboxes, also called letter boxes. Each has a sign giving times of collections. Postmen and women deliver mail each morning direct to homes and businesses. They put the mail through a flap in the door, which is also called a letter box. In the country they travel round in red vans, but in towns and villages they often ride bicycles.
The system that deals with mail in the US, the US Postal Service (USPS), is an independent part of the government. Its head is the Postmaster General. Mail carriers, sometimes called mailmen though many are women, deliver mail to homes and businesses once a day. Most homes have mailboxes fixed outside, near the door. It is very uncommon for a house to have a letter box in the door for letters. People whose houses are a long way from the road have a special rural mailbox by the road. This has a flag which the mail carrier raises so that the people in the house can see when they have mail. To mail (= send) a letter, people leave it on top of their own mailbox or put it in one of the many blue mailboxes in cities and towns. Every address in the US includes an abbreviation for the name of the state and a ZIP code, which is used to help sort the mail. Post offices sell stamps and deal with mail that has to be insured. Most cities have one post office which stays open late. Americans complain about the Postal Service, but it usually does an efficient job at a reasonable price.
In the US only Postal Service can deliver mail to letter boxes and the Service has a monopoly on first-class mail that is not urgent.In Britain the post office lost its monopoly on delivery of post in 2006. In both countries there are many companies who provide courier and messenger services for urgent mail. The largest of these include FedEx and DHL. In Britain private companies may also deliver mail to letter boxes.
Thesaurus:
mail noun U
• There isn't any mail for you today.
letter • • email • • message • • note • • memo • • fax • • text • |BrE post • |formal correspondence • • communication • • memorandum •
(a/an) mail/letter/email/message/note/memo/fax/text/post/correspondence/communication/memorandum from/to sb
(a) personal/private mail/letter/email/message/note/correspondence/communication
send/receive (a/an) mail/letter/email/message/note/memo/fax/text/post/correspondence/communication/memorandum
British/American:
post / mail
Nouns
In BrE the official system used for sending and delivering letters, parcels/packages, etc. is usually called the post. In NAmE it is usually called the mail: ▪ I’ll put an application form in the post/mail for you today. ◊ ▪ Send your fee by post/mail to this address. Mail is sometimes used in BrE in such expressions as ▪ the Royal Mail. Post occurs in NAmE in such expressions as ▪ the US Postal Service.
In BrE post is also used to mean the letters, parcels/packages, etc. that are delivered to you. Mail is the usual word in NAmE and is sometimes also used in BrE: ▪ Was there any post/mail this morning? ◊ ▪ I sat down to open my post/mail. Verbs
Compare: ▪ I’ll post the letter when I go out. (BrE) and ▪ I’ll mail the letter when I go out. (NAmE)Compounds
Note these words: postman (BrE), mailman/mail carrier (both NAmE); postbox (BrE), mailbox (NAmE) Some compounds are used in both BrE and NAmE: post office, postcard, mail order.
Example Bank:
• Has the mail come yet?
• He has received death threats and hate mail from angry fans.
• I throw away junk mail without reading it.
• I throw junk mail straight in the bin without reading it.
• If we want to send something to another department, we use the internal mail.
• Is there anything interesting in the mail?
• My reply is in the mail.
• Send it by first-class mail.
• She checked her mail before leaving the hotel.
• Some people let their assistants handle the mail.
• The mail carrier didn't deliver the mail on Friday.
• The mail is collected twice a day.
• The postcode allows the mail to be sorted automatically.
• We got the Post Office to redirect our mail when we moved.
• We had our mail redirected when we moved out.
• direct mail advertising
• the strange piece of fan mail she'd received two days earlier
• Half a million tonnes of junk mail is generated every year in the UK.
• I sat down to open the mail.
• Is there a letter from them in the mail?
• She's received a lot of hate mail for speaking out about it.
• There isn't much mail today.
• You've got mail.
Derived: mail something out
Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary - 4th Edition
mail / meɪl / noun [ S or U ] ( mainly UK post ) (POST)
A2 the letters and parcels that are sent by post, or the system for sending letters and parcels from place to place:
She spent the morning reading and answering her mail.
All of our customers will be contacted by mail.
The book came in yesterday's mail.
Some strange things get sent through the mail.
mail / meɪl / noun [ C or U ] (EMAIL)
A2 email:
I had almost 50 unread mails in my inbox.
You have mail.
mail / meɪl / noun [ U ] (COVERING)
→ chain mail
© Cambridge University Press 2013
[me͟ɪl]
mails, mailing, mailed
1) N-SING: the N, also by N The mail is the public service or system by which letters and parcels are collected and delivered.
Your check is in the mail...
People had to renew their motor vehicle registrations through the mail...
The firm has offices in several large cities, but does most of its business by mail.
Syn:
post
2) N-UNCOUNT: also the N You can refer to letters and parcels that are delivered to you as mail.
There was no mail except the usual junk addressed to the occupier...
Nora looked through the mail.
Syn:
post
3) VERB If you mail a letter or parcel to someone, you send it to them by putting it in a post box or taking it to a post office. [mainly AM]
[V n to n] Last year, he mailed the documents to French journalists...
[V n n] He mailed me the contract...
[V n with n] The Government has already mailed some 18 million households with details of the public offer. [Also V n](in BRIT, usually use post)
4) VERB To mail a message to someone means to send it to them by means of electronic mail or a computer network.
[be V-ed prep] ...if a report must be electronically mailed to an office by 9 am the next day. [Also V n]
N-UNCOUNT
Mail is also a noun. If you have any problems then send me some mail.
5) → See also mailing, chain mail, e-mail, electronic mail, hate mail, junk mail, surface mail
Phrasal Verbs:
- mail out
mail
3mail noun [noncount] : a kind of protective clothing (called armor) that is made of many small pieces or rings of metal which are linked together
• a coat of mail
- see also chain mail
- compare 1mail
mail
3mail noun [noncount] : a kind of protective clothing (called armor) that is made of many small pieces or rings of metal which are linked together
• a coat of mail
- see also chain mail
- compare 1mail
1mail /ˈmeɪl/ noun [noncount]
✦Mail is used in British English but it is much more common in U.S. English. The usual word in British English is post.
1 : the system used for sending letters and packages from one person to another
• They do business by mail.
• Don't bring the check to the office—send it through the mail.
• The check is in the mail. [=the check has been sent and will be delivered by mail]
• I hope the check hasn't gotten lost in the mail.
• interoffice mail
- called also (chiefly Brit) post,
- see also airmail, direct mail, registered mail, return mail, surface mail, voice mail
2 : letters or packages sent from one person to another
• Was the notice in today's mail?
• Did we get any mail today?
• Has the mail arrived yet?
• sorting through the mail
• There's a pile of mail on the table.
• collecting and delivering the mail
• reading the mail
• They got a lot of hate mail [=extremely angry letters, e-mail, etc.] from people who disagree with their policies.
• He has a job in the mail room. [=the room in an office where mail is handled]
- called also (chiefly Brit) post,
- see also fan mail, junk mail, snail mail
3 : 1e-mail
• I need to check my computer to see if I've gotten any mail today.
the mails chiefly US law formal : the system used for sending letters, packages, etc. : a nation's postal system
• packages sent through the mails
• He was charged with using the mails to commit fraud.
- compare 3mail
The camp was in the middle of a beautiful forest.
The activity of living in a tent on holiday
The camp was in the middle of a beautiful forest.
camping
noun (no plural)
sleeping or spending a holiday in a tent:
Camping is no fun when it rains.
camping
camp·ing /ˈkæmpɪŋ/ noun [uncountable]
the holiday activity of living in a tent:camping gear/equipment:
• The shop sells camping equipment such as sleeping bags and backpacks.
camping
camp·ing [camping] [ˈkæmpɪŋ] [ˈkæmpɪŋ] noun uncountable
living in a tent, etc. on holiday/vacation
• Do you go camping?
• a camping trip
• camping equipment
Example Bank:
• We go camping every weekend.
camp
camp [camp camps camped camping camper campest] noun, verb, adjective [kæmp] [kæmp]
noun
IN TENTS
1. countable, uncountable a place where people live temporarily in tents or temporary buildings
• Let's return to camp.
• to pitch/make camp (= put up tents)
• to break camp (= to take down tents)
see also holiday camp
HOLIDAY/VACATION
2. countable, uncountable a place where young people go on holiday/vacation and take part in various activities or a particular activity
• a tennis camp
• He spent two weeks at camp this summer.
• summer camp
see also fat camp
PRISON, ETC.
3. countable (used in compounds) a place where people are kept in temporary buildings or tents, especially by a government and often for long periods
• a refugee camp
• a camp guard
see also concentration camp, prison camp, transit camp
ARMY
4. countable, uncountable a place where soldiers live while they are training or fighting
• an army camp
GROUP OF PEOPLE
5. countable a group of people who have the same ideas about sth and oppose people with other ideas
• the socialist camp
• We were in opposing camps.
• People are split into two camps on this issue.
6. countable one of the sides in a competition and the people connected with it
• There was an air of confidence in the England camp.
see have/keep a foot in both camps at foot n.
Word Origin:
n. and v. early 16th cent. French camp champ Italian campo Latin campus ‘level ground’
adj. early 20th cent.
Example Bank:
• Militants raided an army camp.
• She spent five years in a labour camp.
• The children are spending a week at a summer camp.
• The kids were at basketball camp most of the summer.
• The mountaineers set up their base camp at the foot of the mountain.
• The region split into two armed camps.
• There are opportunities for children to attend summer camps.
• They established a base camp by the river.
• We broke camp early the next morning.
• We pitched camp just outside the woods.
• a politician who switches camp when it suits him
• concentration camp survivors
• people in both main political camps
• the appalling conditions in the refugee camps
• Concentration camps were first used during the Boer War.
• He spent the rest of the war in a prison camp.
• Nearly a year after the disaster, many people are still living in refugee camps.
• The scientists split into two camps over the validity of animal studies.
• They were repeatedly beaten by camp guards.
Derived: camp it up ▪ camp out
Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary - 4th Edition
camping / ˈkæm.pɪŋ / noun [ U ]
A2 the activity of staying in a tent on holiday :
We used to go camping in Spain when I was a child.
camping equipment
© Cambridge University Press 2013
camp
/kæmp/
(camps, camping, camped)
Frequency: The word is one of the 1500 most common words in English.
1.
A camp is a collection of huts and other buildings that is provided for a particular group of people, such as refugees, prisoners, or soldiers, as a place to live or stay.
...a refugee camp...
2,500 foreign prisoners-of-war, including Americans, had been held in camps near Tambov.
N-COUNT: oft n N
2.
A camp is an outdoor area with buildings, tents, or caravans where people stay on holiday.
N-VAR
3.
A camp is a collection of tents or caravans where people are living or staying, usually temporarily while they are travelling.
...gypsy camps...
We’ll make camp on that hill ahead.
N-VAR
4.
If you camp somewhere, you stay or live there for a short time in a tent or caravan, or in the open air.
We camped near the beach.
VERB: V
•
Camp out means the same as camp.
For six months they camped out in a caravan in a meadow at the back of the house.
PHRASAL VERB: V P
• camp‧ing
They went camping in the wilds.
...a camping trip.
N-UNCOUNT
5.
You can refer to a group of people who all support a particular person, policy, or idea as a particular camp.
The press release provoked furious protests from the Gore camp and other top Democrats.
N-COUNT: usu supp N
6.
If you describe someone’s behaviour, performance, or style of dress as camp, you mean that it is exaggerated and amusing, often in a way that is thought to be typical of some male homosexuals. (INFORMAL)
James Barron turns in a delightfully camp performance.
ADJ
•
Camp is also a noun.
The video was seven minutes of high camp and melodrama.
N-UNCOUNT
camping
camping noun [noncount] : the activity of sleeping outdoors in a tent usually for enjoyment
• Camping is one of our favorite things to do.
• She likes to go camping on weekends.
- camping adj
• camping equipment/gear
• a camping trip
born in Ardebil
To come out of a mother's body, and start to exist
born in Ardebil
born
adjective
be born to start your life:
He was born in 1990.
Where were you born?
born
I. verb
I. born1 S1 W2 verb
1. be born when a person or animal is born, they come out of their mother’s body or out of an egg:
• Forty lambs were born this spring.
be born in
• Swift was born in 1667.
be born at
• Then, most babies were born at home.
be born on
• I was born on December 15th, 1973.
be born into/to/of something (=be born in a particular situation, type of family etc)
• One third of all children are born into single-parent families.
be born with something (=have a particular disease, type of character etc since birth)
• Jenny was born with a small hole in her heart.
• I was born and raised (=was born and grew up) in Alabama.
be born blind/deaf etc (=be blind, deaf etc when born)
• a newly-born baby
• the queen’s firstborn son
be born lucky/unlucky etc (=always be lucky, unlucky etc)
Australian/French etc born (=born in or as a citizen of Australia etc)
► Do not say ‘I born’, ‘I have been born’, or ‘I am born’. Say I was born: I was born in Pakistan.
2. START EXISTING be born something that is born starts to exist:
• the country where the sport of cricket was born
be born (out) of (=as a result of a particular situation)
• The alliance was born of necessity in 1941.
• Bill spoke with a cynicism born of bitter experience.
3. born and bred born and having grown up in a particular place and having the typical qualities of someone from that place:
• I was born and bred in Liverpool.
4. be born to do/be something to be very suitable for a particular job, activity etc:
• He was born to be a politician.
5. I wasn’t born yesterday spoken used to tell someone you think is lying to you that you are not stupid enough to believe them
6. there’s one born every minute spoken used to say that someone has been very stupid or easily deceived
7. be born under a lucky/unlucky star to always have good or bad luck in your life
8. be born with a silver spoon in your mouth to be born into a rich family ⇨ natural-born
born
born verb, adjective [bɔːn] [bɔːrn]
verb be born (used only in the passive, without by)
1. (abbr. b.) to come out of your mother's body at the beginning of your life
• I was born in 1976.
• He was born in a small village in northern Spain.
• She was born with a weak heart.
• ~ into sth She was born into a very musical family.
• ~ of/to sb He was born of/to German parents.
• + adj. Her brother was born blind (= was blind when he was born).
• + noun John Wayne was born Marion Michael Morrison (= that was his name at birth).
2. (of an idea, an organization, a feeling, etc.) to start to exist
• the city where the protest movement was born
• ~ (out) of sth She acted with a courage born (out) of desperation.
3. -born (in compounds) born in the order, way, place, etc. mentioned
• firstborn
• nobly-born
• French-born
see also newborn
more at not know you are born at know v., to the manner born at manner, be/be born/be made that/this way at way n.
Word Origin:
Old English boren, past participle of beran ‘to bear’, of Germanic origin; from an Indo-European root shared by Sanskrit bharati, Greek pherein, and Latin ferre.
Collocations:
The ages of life
Childhood/youth
be born and raised/bred in Oxford; into a wealthy/middle-class family
have a happy/an unhappy/a tough childhood
grow up in a musical family/an orphanage; on a farm
be/grow up an only child (= with no brothers or sisters)
reach/hit/enter/go through adolescence/puberty
be in your teens/early twenties/mid-twenties/late twenties
undergo/experience physical/psychological changes
give in to/succumb to/resist peer pressure
assert your independence/individuality
Adulthood
leave school/university/home
go out to work (at sixteen)
get/find a job/partner
be/get engaged/married
have/get a wife/husband/mortgage/steady job
settle down and have kids/children/a family
begin/start/launch/build a career (in politics/science/the music industry)
prove (to be)/represent/mark/reach a (major) turning point for sb/in your life/career
reach/be well into/settle into middle age
have/suffer/go through a midlife crisis
take/consider early retirement
approach/announce/enjoy your retirement
Old age
have/see/spend time with your grandchildren
take up/pursue/develop a hobby
get/receive/draw/collect/live on a pension
approach/save for/die from old age
live to a ripe old age
reach the grand old age of 102/23 (often ironic)
be/become/be getting/be going senile (often ironic)
die (peacefully)/pass away in your sleep/after a brief illness
Example Bank:
• I was born and bred in Texas.
• She was born into a wealthy family.
• The part is played by an American-born actress.
• Their child was born with a serious medical problem.
• babies who are born to very young mothers
• to be born of noble parents
Idioms: born and bred ▪ born to be something ▪ born with a silver spoon in your mouth ▪ in all my born days ▪ not be born yesterday ▪ there's one born every minute
adjective only before noun
having a natural ability or skill for a particular activity or job
• a born athlete/writer/leader
• a born loser (= a person who always loses or is unsuccessful)
Word Origin:
[born] Old English boren, past participle of beran ‘to bear’, of Germanic origin; from an Indo-European root shared by Sanskrit bharati, Greek pherein, and Latin ferre.
Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary - 4th Edition
born / bɔːn / / bɔːrn / verb
be born A2 to come out of a mother's body, and start to exist:
She was born in 1950.
We saw a lamb being born.
Diana was born into an aristocratic family.
Ann was born and brought up in Ealing.
having started life in a particular way:
The toll of babies born with AIDS is rising.
Stevie Wonder was born blind.
C2 formal or literary If an idea is born, it starts to exist. born of sth formal existing as the result of something:
With a courage born of necessity, she seized the gun and ran at him.
born
[bɔ͟ː(r)n]
1) V-PASSIVE When a baby is born, it comes out of its mother's body at the beginning of its life. In formal English, if you say that someone is born of someone or to someone, you mean that person is their parent.
[be V-ed] My mother was 40 when I was born...
[be V-ed] She was born in London on April 29, 1923...
[be V-ed of/to n] He was born of German parents and lived most of his life abroad...
[V-ed] Willie Smith was the second son born to Jean and Stephen.
2) V-PASSIVE: no cont If someone is born with a particular disease, problem, or characteristic, they have it from the time they are born.
[be V-ed with n] He was born with only one lung...
[be V-ed adj] Some people are born brainy...
[be V-ed to-inf] I think he was born to be editor of a tabloid newspaper...
[be V-ed n] We are all born leaders; we just need the right circumstances in which to flourish.
3) V-PASSIVE: no cont You can use be born in front of a particular name to show that a person was given this name at birth, although they may be better known by another name. [FORMAL]
[be V-ed n] She was born Jenny Harvey on June 11, 1946.
4) ADJ: ADJ n You use born to describe someone who has a natural ability to do a particular activity or job. For example, if you are a born cook, you have a natural ability to cook well.
Jack was a born teacher.
Syn:
instinctive
5) V-PASSIVE When an idea or organization is born, it comes into existence. If something is born of a particular emotion or activity, it exists as a result of that emotion or activity. [FORMAL]
[be V-ed] The idea for the show was born in his hospital room...
[be V-ed] Congress passed the National Security Act, and the CIA was born...
[be V-ed out of/of n] Energy conservation as a philosophy was born out of the 1973 oil crisis.
Syn:
conceive
6) → See also -born, first born, newborn
7) be born and bred → see breed
be born with a silver spoon in your mouth → see spoon
[-bɔː(r)n]
COMB in ADJ: usu ADJ n
-born combines with adjectives that relate to countries or with the names of towns and areas to form adjectives that indicate where someone was born. [JOURNALISM]
The German-born photographer was admired by writers such as Oscar Wilde...
Lancashire-born Miss Richardson lives alone in London.
born
born /ˈboɚn/ adj
1 not used before a noun : brought into life by the process of birth
• She was born in a hospital.
• He was born on a farm.
• She was born in Nigeria in 1911.
• The baby was born on July 31st.
• Their second son was born prematurely.
- see also firstborn, newborn
2 : having certain qualities or characteristics from the time of birth
• born blind/deaf
• Both twins were born healthy.
• The author Mark Twain was born Samuel Clemens. [=was named Samuel Clemens at birth]
• She's a born teacher/leader. [=she was born with the qualities that make someone a teacher/leader]
✦If you were born to do something or born to be something, you have natural qualities or talents that make you perfectly suited to do or be something.
• She was born to teach. = She was born to be a teacher.
3 not used before a noun
- used to describe the place where someone was born
• He's American born. [=he was born in America]
• He's Mexican born and bred. = He was born and bred in Mexico. [=his birth and childhood took place in Mexico]
- often used in combination
• Maine-born
4 not used before a noun
- used to describe the social conditions or situations that exist when people are born
• Some are born in slavery, others born merely poor.
• She was born to riches/wealth. = She was born into a rich/wealthy family.
- see also highborn
5 not used before a noun : brought into existence
• Her dream of owning farm was born when she visited the countryside as a child.
• The wine is born [=created] from the union of two very different grapes.
• a mentality born in the age of computers
• Their relationship was born of necessity [=established because it was necessary in some way], but it has developed into a true and lasting friendship.
• Church leaders assert that the recent unrest in the city is born out of [=has occurred because of] years of neglect of the city's poor neighborhoods.
born too late
✦Someone who is said to be born too late seems to be better suited for life in an earlier time period.
• John prefers early jazz music over the modern stuff. I guess he was born too late.
born with a silver spoon in your mouth
✦If you were born with a silver spoon in your mouth, you were born into a very wealthy family.
in all your born days informal + somewhat old-fashioned : in your entire life - used to express how unexpected or unusual something is
• I never saw anything like it in all my born days.
there's one born every minute or there's a sucker born every minute informal
- used to say that there are many people in the world who are foolish and can be easily deceived;
to the manner born
- see manner
to the manor born
- see manor
wasn't born yesterday
✦Someone who wasn't born yesterday is unlikely to believe something that is not true or to trust someone who is not trustworthy.
• He said he'd pay me back, but I'll believe it when I see it. I wasn't born yesterday.
