- world
- [[t]wɜ͟ː(r)ld[/t]]
♦worlds1) N-SING: the N The world is the planet that we live on.
It's a beautiful part of the world...
More than anything, I'd like to drive around the world...
The satellite enables us to calculate their precise location anywhere in the world.
2) N-SING: the N, N n The world refers to all the people who live on this planet, and our societies, institutions, and ways of life.The world was, and remains, shocked...
He wants to show the world that anyone can learn to be an ambassador...
His personal contribution to world history is likely to have been incidental.
...inflationary pressures in the world economy.
3) ADJ: ADJ n You can use world to describe someone or something that is one of the most important or significant of its kind on earth.Abroad, Mr Bush was seen as a world statesman...
China has once again emerged as a world power...
He was one of Newcastle's most distinguished medical men, a world authority on heart-diseases.
4) N-SING: the supp N You can use world in expressions such as the Arab world, the western world, and the ancient world to refer to a particular group of countries or a particular period in history.Athens had strong ties to the Arab world.
...the developing world...
Dogs were also associated with healing in the ancient world.
5) N-COUNT: oft poss N Someone's world is the life they lead, the people they have contact with, and the things they experience.His world seemed so different from mine...
I lost my job and it was like my world collapsed...
I tried to understand the adult world and could not.
6) N-SING: the N, with supp, oft N of n You can use world to refer to a particular field of activity, and the people involved in it.The publishing world had certainly never seen an event quite like this.
...the latest news from the world of finance.
7) N-COUNT: with supp, oft N of n You can use world to refer to a place or way of life by describing its strongest features....a golf course set in a hidden world of parkland, forest and lakes...
The patient must re-enter a world full of problems and stresses.
8) N-SING: with supp You can use world in expressions such as this world, the next world, and the world to come to refer to the state of being alive or a state of existence after death.Good fortune will follow you, both in this world and the next.
9) N-SING: the n N You can use world to refer to a particular group of living things, for example the animal world, the plant world, and the insect world.Syn:10) N-COUNT A world is a planet.He looked like something from another world...
Man was drawing closer to the stars, opening new worlds.
11) → See also , New World, , Third World12) PHRASE: usu v-link PHR, oft PHR from n (emphasis) If you say that two people or things are worlds apart, you are emphasizing that they are very different from each other.Intellectually, this man and I are worlds apart...
The novel is worlds apart from his academic writings.
Syn:poles apart13) PHRASE: PHR after v, v-link PHR If you say that someone has the best of both worlds, you mean that they have only the benefits of two things and none of the disadvantages.Her living room provides the best of both worlds, with an office at one end and comfortable sofas at the other.
14) PHRASE: V inflects If a woman brings a child into the world, she gives birth to it.I never felt I achieved a great deal in my life, apart from bringing my children into the world.
15) PHRASE: v-link PHR, oft PHR between pl-n (emphasis) If you say that there is a world of difference between one thing and another, you are emphasizing that they are very different from each other.There's a world of difference between an amateur video and a slick Hollywood production.
16) PHRASE: with brd-neg, PHR after v (emphasis) If you say that you would not do something for the world, you are emphasizing that you definitely would not do it.I wouldn't have missed this for the world.
Syn:for anything17) PHRASE: V inflects If you say that something has done someone the world of good or a world of good, you mean that it has made them feel better or improved their life. [INFORMAL]A sleep will do you the world of good.
...a mature performance which must have done his career prospects a world of good.
18) PHRASE: oft PHR after superl (emphasis) You use in the world to emphasize a statement that you are making.The saddest thing in the world is a little baby nobody wants...
He had no one in the world but her.
19) PHRASE: quest PHR (emphasis) You can use in the world in expressions such as what in the world and who in the world to emphasize a question, especially when expressing surprise or anger.What in the world is he doing?...
Where in the world were you when I was struggling for my life?
Syn:on earth20) PHRASE: PHR with cl You can use in an ideal world or in a perfect world when you are talking about things that you would like to happen, although you realize that they are not likely to happen.In an ideal world Karen Stevens says she would love to stay at home with her two-and-half-year old son...
In a perfect world, there would be the facilities and money to treat every sick person.
Syn:21) PHRASE: V inflects (disapproval) If you say that someone thinks that the world owes them a living, you are criticizing them because they think it is their right to have a comfortable life without having to make any effort at all.All young people must face up to reality and not kid themselves that the world owes them a living.
22) PHRASE: man/woman inflects If you say that someone is a man of the world or a woman of the world, you mean that they are experienced and know about the practical or social aspects of life, and are not easily shocked by immoral or dishonest actions.Look, we are both men of the world, would anyone really mind?
...an elegant, clever and tough woman of the world.
23) PHRASE: v-link PHR (emphasis) If you say that something is out of this world, you are emphasizing that it is extremely good or impressive. [INFORMAL]These new trains are out of this world.
24) PHRASE You can use the outside world to refer to all the people who do not live in a particular place or who are not involved in a particular situation.For many, the post office is the only link with the outside world...
This, at least, was the situation as it appeared to the outside world.
25) PHRASE: PHR after v, n PHR If you say that something happens or exists the world over, you mean that it happens or exists in every part of the world.Some problems are the same the world over...
Governments the world over should do something about it.
Syn:26) PHRASE: v-link PHR, PHR after v If you say that someone is in a world of their own, you mean that they seem not to notice other people or the things going on around them.When I'm swimming I'm in a world of my own...
Sarah was nine years old and until that moment she had been locked in a world of her own.
27) PHRASE: V inflects, PHR n If you think the world of someone, you like them or care about them very much.I think the world of him, but something tells me it's not love...
We were really close. We thought the world of each other.
28) PHRASE: V inflects If you say that someone has gone up in the world, you mean they have become richer or have a higher social status than before. If you say they have come down in the world, you mean they have become poorer or have a lower social status. [mainly BRIT]When they started to go up in the world, they moved to a flat in London.
...young women of middle class families which had come down in the world.
English dictionary. 2008.
