fix

[[t]fɪ̱ks[/t]]

♦♦♦

fixes, fixing, fixed

1) VERB If something is fixed somewhere, it is attached there firmly or securely.

[be V-ed prep/adv] It is fixed on the wall...

[be V-ed prep/adv] Most blinds can be fixed directly to the top of the window-frame...

[V n prep/adv] He fixed a bayonet to the end of his rifle.

Syn:

fasten

2) VERB If you fix something, for example a date, price, or policy, you decide and say exactly what it will be.

[V n] He's going to fix a time when I can see him...

[V n] The date of the election was fixed...

[V n] The prices of milk and cereals, are fixed annually.

Syn:

set, settle

3) VERB If you fix something for someone, you arrange for it to happen or you organize it for them.

[V it for n to-inf] I've fixed it for you to see Bonnie Lachlan...

[be V-ed] It's fixed. He's going to meet us at the airport...

[V n] They thought that their relatives would be able to fix the visas...

[V n with n] He vanished after you fixed him with a job...

[V for n to-inf] We fixed for the team to visit our headquarters...

[V that] They'd fixed yesterday that Mike'd be in late today.

Syn:

sort

4) VERB If you fix something which is damaged or which does not work properly, you repair it.

[V n] He cannot fix the electricity...

[get/have n V-ed] If something is broken, we get it fixed.

Syn:

mend

5) VERB If you fix a problem or a bad situation, you deal with it and make it satisfactory.

[V n] It's not too late to fix the problem, although time is clearly getting short...

[V-ing] Fixing a 40-year-old wrong does not mean, however, that history can be undone.

Syn:

mend

6) N-COUNT: usu adj N You can refer to a solution to a problem as a fix. [INFORMAL]

→ See also quick fix

Many of those changes could just be a temporary fix.

7) V-ERG If you fix your eyes on someone or something or if your eyes fix on them, you look at them with complete attention.

[V n on n] She fixes her steel-blue eyes on an unsuspecting local official...

[V on n] Her soft brown eyes fixed on Kelly...

[V-ed] The child kept her eyes fixed on the wall behind him.

8) VERB: no passive If you fix someone with a particular kind of expression, you look at them in that way. [LITERARY]

[V n with n] He took her hand and fixed her with a look of deep concern...

[V n with n] He fixed me with a lopsided grin.

Syn:

fasten

9) VERB If you fix your attention on someone or something, you think about them with complete attention.

[V n on n] Fix your attention on the practicalities of financing your schemes...

[V n on n] Attention is fixed on the stock market...

[V-ed] She kept her mind fixed on the practical problems which faced her.

Syn:

fasten

10) VERB If someone or something is fixed in your mind, you remember them well, for example because they are very important, interesting, or unusual.

[be V-ed in n] Leonard was now fixed in his mind...

[V n in n] Amy watched the child's intent face eagerly, trying to fix it in her mind.

Syn:

be fastened

11) VERB If someone fixes a gun, camera, or radar on something, they point it at that thing.

[V n on n] The US crew fixed its radar on the Turkish ship...

[V n on n] The bore of the gun remained fixed on me.

Syn:

aim, train

12) VERB If you fix the position of something, you find out exactly where it is, usually by using radar or electronic equipment.

[V n] He had not been able to fix his position...

[V n] The satellite fixes positions by making repeated observations of each star.

[V-ing] ...accurate position fixing.

Syn:

pinpoint

N-COUNT: usu N on n

Fix is also a noun.

The army hasn't been able to get a fix on the transmitter.

13) N-SING: a N on n If you get a fix on someone or something, you have a clear idea or understanding of them. [INFORMAL]

It's been hard to get a steady fix on what's going on.

14) VERB If you fix some food or a drink for someone, you make it or prepare it for them.

[V n for n] Sarah fixed some food for us...

[V n n] Let me fix you a drink...

[V n] Scotty stayed behind to fix lunch.

15) VERB: no passive If you fix your hair, clothes, or make-up, you arrange or adjust them so you look neat and tidy, showing you have taken care with your appearance. [INFORMAL]

[V n] `I've got to fix my hair,' I said and retreated to my bedroom...

[V n] She called a cab, fixed her face, and scrawled a hasty note to Brian.

Syn:

tidy

16) VERB: usu passive If you have your teeth fixed, you have treatment from a dentist to make your teeth even, straight, and white. [INFORMAL]

[V-ed] The PR man suggested that I might benefit from getting my teeth fixed...

[V-ed] I wonder if Tom ever had his teeth fixed anywhere else?

17) VERB (disapproval) If someone fixes a race, election, contest, or other event, they make unfair or illegal arrangements or use deception to affect the result.

[V n] They offered opposing players bribes to fix a decisive league match against Valenciennes...

[V n] We didn't `fix' anything. It'll be seen as it happens...

[V n] The debate seems, in retrospect, to have been fixed from the beginning.

[V-ing] ...this week's report of match-fixing.

Syn:

rig

N-COUNT

Fix is also a noun.

It's all a fix, a deal they've made.

18) VERB (disapproval) If you accuse someone of fixing prices, you accuse them of making unfair arrangements to charge a particular price for something, rather than allowing market forces to decide it.

[V n] ...a suspected cartel that had fixed the price of steel for the construction market...

[V-ing] The company is currently in dispute with the government over price fixing.

19) N-COUNT An injection of an addictive drug such as heroin can be referred to as a fix. [INFORMAL]

20) N-COUNT: with supp, oft N of n, n N You can use fix to refer to an amount of something which a person gets or wants and which helps them physically or psychologically to survive. [INFORMAL]

It turned the country into an `aid junkie', heavily dependent on its annual fix of dollars...

The trouble with her is she needs her daily fix of publicity...

I need my fix of sugar, sweets, and chocolate.

...a quick energy fix.

Syn:

dose

21) N-SING: a N, usu in/into N If you are in a fix, you are in a difficult situation, especially one that you have caused for yourself. [INFORMAL]

He was in a fix...

The government has really got itself into a fix...

This will put us in a very difficult economic fix.

Syn:

mess

22) VERB To fix something such as a dye or photographic image means to treat it with chemicals so that it does not lose its colour or disappear.

[V n] Certain pigment colours were painted on to dry plaster using tempera (where egg yolk is used to fix the pigment)...

[V n] The main aim of inbreeding is to standardise, to fix desirable inherited characteristics and to dispel undesirable ones.

Syn:

stabilize

23) VERB If you say that you will fix someone, you mean that you will stop their activities permanently. [INFORMAL]

[V n] That'll fix him.

Syn:

put paid to

24) VERB: only cont If you say that you are fixing to do something, you mean that you are planning or intending to do it. [AM, INFORMAL]

[V to-inf] I'm fixing to go to graduate school...

[V to-inf] He would know when I was fixing to leave. He'd wait by the front door.

25) → See also , fixings

Phrasal Verbs:

- fix on

- fix up