- presence
- [[t]pre̱z(ə)ns[/t]]
♦♦presences
They argued that his presence in the village could only stir up trouble...
Her Majesty later honoured the Headmaster with her presence at lunch.
Ant:2) N-UNCOUNT: oft supp N If you say that someone has presence, you mean that they impress people by their appearance and manner.They do not seem to have the vast, authoritative presence of those great men...
Hendrix's stage presence appealed to thousands of teenage rebels.
3) N-COUNT A presence is a person or creature that you cannot see, but that you are aware of. [LITERARY]The forest was dark and silent, haunted by shadows and unseen presences...
She started to be affected by the ghostly presence she could feel in the house.
4) N-SING: usu supp N If a country has a military presence in another country, it has some of its armed forces there.The Philippine government wants the US to maintain a military presence in Southeast Asia.
5) N-UNCOUNT: with poss If you refer to the presence of a substance in another thing, you mean that it is in that thing.The somewhat acid flavour is caused by the presence of lactic acid.
...the presence of a carcinogen in the water...
Although the fluid presents no symptoms to the patient, its presence can be detected by a test.
Ant:6) PHRASE: make inflects If you make your presence felt, you do something which makes people notice you or pay attention to you.Rather than politely lobbying politicians, Gay Dignity will be making its presence felt through demonstrations.
7) PHRASE: PHR after v, v-link PHR If you are in someone's presence, you are in the same place as that person, and are close enough to them to be seen or heard.The talks took place in the presence of a diplomatic observer.
8) PHRASE: usu PHR after v (approval) If you say that someone had the presence of mind to do something, you approve of them because they were able to think and act calmly in a difficult situation.He had the presence of mind to put his emergency oxygen tube in his mouth.
English dictionary. 2008.
