noun

II. watch2 S2 W3 noun
[Word Family: noun: watch, watcher; adjective: watchful, watchable; verb: watch]
1. [countable] a small clock that you wear on your wrist or keep in your pocket:
My watch has stopped.
look at/glance at/consult your watch
She glanced nervously at her watch.
How do you keep track of time if you don’t wear a watch?
 

date

I. date1 S1 W1 /deɪt/ noun [countable]
[Word Family: verb: date, predate; adjective: dated, outdated; noun: date]
[Sense 1-5: Date: 1300-1400; Language: French; Origin: Late Latin data, from the past participle of Latin dare 'to give']
[Sense 6: Date: 1200-1300; Language: Old French; Origin: Greek daktylos 'finger']
1. DAY a particular day of the month or year, especially shown by a number:
The date on the letter was 30th August 1962.
What’s today’s date?
date of
What’s the date of the next meeting?
You should apply at least 8 weeks before your date of departure.
date for
Have you set a date for the wedding yet?
2. at a later/future date formal at some time in the future SYN later:
The details will be agreed at a later date.
3. to date up to now:
The cost of the work to date has been about £150 million.
Her best performance to date was her third place at the World Junior Championships.
4. ROMANTIC MEETING
a) an occasion when you go out with someone that you like in a romantic way
date with
I’ve got a date with Andrea tomorrow night.
I felt like a teenager going out on a first date. ⇒ blind date
b) American English someone that you have a date with
sb’s date
Can I bring my date to the party?
5. ARRANGEMENT TO MEET SOMEBODY a time arranged to meet someone, especially socially:
Let’s make a date to come over and visit.
6. FRUIT a sweet sticky brown fruit with a long hard seed inside
⇒ closing date, ⇒ expiry date at expiry(2), ⇒ out-of-date, sell-by date, up-to-date
 

COLLOCATIONS

ADJECTIVES/NOUN + date

▪ the exact/precise date I can’t remember the exact date we moved into this house.
▪ the agreed date British English, agreed upon date American English (=one that people have agreed on) The work was not finished by the agreed date.
▪ the closing date (=the last day you can officially do something) The closing date for applications is April 30th.
▪ the due date (=the date by which something is due to happen) Payment must be made by the due date.
▪ the delivery date (=a date on which goods will be delivered) The delivery date should be around 23rd August.
▪ the publication date (=the date when something is published) We are aiming at a publication date of mid-November.
▪ the departure date (=the date when someone leaves) My departure date was only a few days away.
▪ the expiry date British English, expiration date American English (=a date on a product after which it cannot be used) Check the expiry date on your credit card.
▪ the sell-by date British English (=a date on a food product after which it should not be sold) Those yoghurts are a week past their sell-by date.

verbs

▪ decide on a date (=choose the date when something will happen) Have you decided on a date for the wedding yet?
▪ set/fix a date (=decide the date when something will happen) They haven’t set a date for the election yet.

phrases

▪ today’s date Don’t forget to put today’s date at the top of the letter.
▪ sb’s date of birth (also sb’s birth date) (=the day and year when someone was born) What’s your date of birth?
▪ the date of publication/issue/departure etc formal The insurance will only cover costs incurred on or after the date of departure.
THESAURUS

▪ meeting an occasion when people meet in order to discuss something: a business meeting. | Mr Bell is in a meeting. | The committee will hold another meeting Wednesday.
▪ conference an organized event, especially one that continues for several days, at which a lot of people meet to discuss a particular subject and hear speeches about it: Didn’t you give a talk at the conference last year? | a conference of women business leaders
▪ convention a large formal meeting of people who belong to a political party, or to an organization of people with the same interests: the Democratic Party Convention | a convention for Star Trek fans
▪ rally a large public meeting, especially one that is held outdoors to support or protest about something: There was a massive peace rally in London.
▪ summit a meeting between government leaders from important and powerful countries, to discuss important matters: A summit meeting of OPEC leaders was called to find a solution to the oil crisis. | next week’s economic summit
▪ caucus American English a local meeting of the members of a political party to choose people to represent them at a larger meeting, or to choose a candidate in an election: Obama won the Iowa caucus in 2007.
▪ teleconference/video conference a business meeting in which people in different places talk to each other using telephones or video equipment: The chairman held teleconferences with his senior managers.
▪ gathering/get-together a situation in which a group of people come together to meet, talk, and have drinks with each other, especially friends or family: We held a small family get-together to celebrate her birthday. | She arranged social gatherings in Kettering for young people on Saturday evenings.
▪ date an arrangement to meet someone who you are having, or hoping to have, a romantic relationship with: I think I might ask her out on a date.
▪ rendezvous a meeting where two people have arranged to meet at a particular time or place, often secretly: She arranged a rendezvous with him in the hotel bar.
▪ tryst literary a secret meeting between people who are having a romantic relationship: a good place for a moonlight tryst

match 1 S2 W2 / mætʃ / noun

1 game [ countable ] especially British English an organized sports event between two teams or people :

It’s our last match of the season.

cricket/football/tennis etc match

They’re preparing for a big (= important ) match tomorrow.

match against/between/with

the match between Nigeria and Ireland

home/away match (= a match played at a team’s own sports ground, or at a different ground )

Good teams win their home matches.

McClaire’s goal earned him the title of man of the match (= the person in a team who plays best ) .

2 fire [ countable ] a small wooden or paper stick with a special substance at the top, that you use to light a fire, cigarette etc :

a box of matches

Don’t let your children play with matches.

strike/light a match (= rub a match against a surface to produce a flame )

Peg struck a match and lit the candle.

I tore up the letter and put a match to it (= made it burn, using a match ) .

3 colours/patterns [ singular ] something that is the same colour or pattern as something else, or looks attractive with it match for

That shirt’s a perfect match for your blue skirt.

4 good opponent [ singular ] someone who is much stronger, cleverer etc than their opponent :

Carlos was no match for the champion.

This time you’ve met your match , Adam Burns! I’m not giving up without a fight!

Guerrilla tactics proved more than a match for the Soviet military machine.

5 shouting match ( also slanging match British English ) a loud angry argument in which two people insult each other :

The meeting degenerated into a shouting match.

6 marriage [ singular ] a marriage or two people who are married :

They’re a perfect match .

a match made in heaven (= a marriage of two people who are exactly right for each other )

Claire made a good match (= married someone suitable ) .

7 suitability [ singular ] a situation in which something is suitable for something else, so that the two things work together successfully match between

We need to establish a match between students’ needs and teaching methods.

→ mix and match at mix 1 ( 6 )

COLLOCATIONS

verbs

go to a match I love going to football matches.

watch a match I watched the match on TV.

play a match We played the match in heavy rain.

lose a match They lost the match, despite playing very well.

win a match Do you think we'll win our next match?

draw a match (= finish with the score even ) United have drawn their last two matches.

have a match (= be scheduled to play a match ) Do we have a match on Sunday?

postpone a match (= arrange for it to happen at a later time ) Our first match was postponed because of bad weather.

miss a match (= not play in a match ) He missed two matches because of an ankle injury.

level the match (= make the score level ) Woods won the last two holes to level the match.

clinch the match (= to win a match by scoring a goal, hitting a winning ball etc ) Ronaldo clinched the match with a brilliant goal.

referee a match (= be the person on the field who makes sure players follow the rules ) The matches are refereed by the children's parents.

a match kicks off (= it starts ) The match kicks off at 3.30 pm.

ADJECTIVES/NOUN + match

great/brilliant (= very good to watch ) We're sure it's going to be another great match.

exciting The match could not have been more exciting.

thrilling (= very exciting ) There were some thrilling matches at Wimbledon this year.

tough (= difficult ) At this stage of the competition, every match is tough.

close (= with each team playing equally well ) Germany won the match, although it was close.

an important/crucial match Luckily, all their players are fit for such an important match.

a big match (= an important match ) Are you going to watch the big match on TV?

a football/rugby/tennis etc match There was a rugby match going on on the school field.

a home match (= played at the place where a team usually practises ) They have won their last five home matches.

an away match (= played at the place where the opponent usually practises ) This is their last away match of the season.

a live match (= shown on TV as it happens ) There is a live match on TV every Wednesday evening.

a friendly match (= not part of a competition ) Fitness is still important in friendly matches.

a qualifying match (= to decide who plays in a competition ) They won all their qualifying matches.

a semi-final match (= between two of the last four teams left in a competition ) Spain beat Russia in their semi-final match last night.

phrase

man of the match (= the best player in a match ) Henri was named man of the match.

wa‧ter‧mel‧on / ˈwɔːtəˌmelən $ ˈwɒːtər-, ˈwɑː- / noun [ uncountable and countable ]

a large round fruit with hard green skin, red flesh, and black seeds

cereal

ce‧re‧al S3 /ˈsɪəriəl $ ˈsɪr-/ BrE AmE noun
[Date: 1800-1900; Language: French; Origin: céréale, from Latin cerealis 'of Ceres', from Ceres ancient Roman goddess of grain and farming]

1. [uncountable and countable] a breakfast food made from grain and usually eaten with milk:
a bowl of breakfast cereal
2. [countable] a plant grown to produce grain, for example wheat, rice etc:
cereal crops

composer

com‧pos‧er /kəmˈpəʊzə $ -ˈpoʊzər/ noun [countable]
someone who writes music ⇒ composition

astronaut

as‧tro‧naut /ˈæstrənɔːt $ -nɒːt, -nɑːt/ noun [countable]
[Date: 1900-2000; Origin: astro- + -naut (as in aeronaut; ⇒ aeronautics)]
someone who travels and works in a spacecraft

silence

I. si‧lence¹ W2 /ˈsaɪləns/ BrE AmE noun
[Word Family: noun: ↑silence, ↑silencer; verb: ↑silence; adverb: ↑silently; adjective: ↑silent]
1. NO NOISE [uncountable] complete absence of sound or noise SYN quiet
silence of
Nothing disturbed the silence of the night.
silence falls/descends (on/upon something)
After the explosion, an eerie silence fell upon the scene.
break/shatter the silence
A loud scream shattered the silence.
2. NO TALKING [uncountable and countable] complete quiet because nobody is talking:
There was a brief silence before anyone answered.
in silence
The four men sat in silence.
complete/total/dead silence
‘How long have you been here?’ I asked. There was complete silence.
‘Silence in court!’ roared the judge.
embarrassed/awkward/stunned etc silence
There was an awkward silence between them.
The accused exercised his right to silence (=the legal right to choose to say nothing).
3. NO DISCUSSION/ANSWER [uncountable] failure or refusal to discuss something or answer questions about something
silence on
The government’s silence on such an important issue seems very strange.
Once again the answer was a deafening silence (=a very noticeable refusal to discuss something).
4. NO COMMUNICATION [uncountable] failure to write a letter to someone, telephone them etc:
After two years of silence, he suddenly got in touch with us again.
5. one-minute/two-minute etc silence a period of time in which everyone stops talking as a sign of honour and respect towards someone who has died
• • •
COLLOCATIONS (for Meanings 1 & 2)
■ adjectives
▪ complete/total/absolute/utter silence They sat in complete silence. | The silence in the room was absolute.
▪ dead silence (=complete silence) There was a gasp from Peter and then a dead silence.
▪ a long silence ‘He’s dead.’ There was a long silence.
▪ a short/brief silence After a brief silence, Katherine nodded.
▪ an awkward/uncomfortable/embarrassed silence ‘Fred tells me you like books,’ Steve said, after an awkward silence.
▪ a stunned/shocked silence There was a stunned silence at the other end of the phone.
▪ stony silence (=unfriendly silence) Harrison stared at him in stony silence.
▪ a tense silence There was a brief, tense silence.
▪ an eerie silence (=one that is strange and rather frightening) An eerie silence descended over the house.
▪ an ominous silence (=one that makes you feel that something bad is going to happen) ‘How long will she be ill?’ There was a short, ominous silence.
▪ a sudden silence At the mention of John, a sudden silence fell on the room.