Collins English Thesaurus Essential. Collins Dictionaries
▸ VERB 1 The engine spat and banged. = resound, beat, crash, burst, boom, echo, drum, explode, thunder, thump, throb, thud, clang 2 I didn't mean to bang into you. = bump, knock, elbow, jostle 3 (often with on) We could bang on the desks and shout until they let us out. = hit, pound, beat, strike, crash, knock, belt (informal), hammer, slam, rap, bump, bash (informal), thump, clatter, pummel, tonk (informal), beat or knock seven bells out of (informal) ▸ ADVERB bang in the middle of the track = exactly, just, straight, square, squarely, precisely, slap, smack (informal), plumb (informal)banish VERB 1 I was banished from the small bedroom upstairs. = exclude, bar, ban, dismiss, expel, throw out, oust, drive away, eject, evict, shut out, ostracize 2 He was banished from England. = expel, transport, exile, outlaw, deport, drive away, expatriate, excommunicate ◼ OPPOSITE: admit 3 a public investment programme intended to banish the recession = get rid of, remove, eliminate, eradicate, shake off, dislodge, see the back ofbanishment NOUN = expulsion, exile, dismissal, removal, discharge, transportation, exclusion, deportation, eviction, ejection, extrusion, proscription, expatriation, debarmentbanisters PLURAL NOUN = railing, rail, balustrade, handrail, balustersbank1 NOUN 1 I had money in the bank. = financial institution, repository, depository 2 one of the largest data banks in the world = store, fund, stock, source, supply, reserve, pool, reservoir, accumulation, stockpile, hoard, storehouse ▸ VERB Early bookings allow the operators to bank the customers' deposits. = deposit, keep, save ● bank on something She is clearly banking on her past to be the meal ticket for her future. = rely on, trust (in), depend on, look to, believe in, count on, be sure of, lean on, be confident of, have confidence in, swear by, reckon on, repose (formal), trust inbank2 NOUN 1 an old warehouse on the banks of the canal = side, edge, margin, shore, brink, lakeside, waterside 2 resting indolently upon a grassy bank = mound, banking, rise, hill, mass, pile, heap, ridge, dune, embankment, knoll, hillock, kopje or koppie (S. African) ▸ VERB A single-engine plane took off and banked above the highway. = tilt, tip, pitch, heel, slope, incline, slant, cant, camberbank3 NOUN an enormous bank of switches and lights in front of the screen = row, group, line, train, range, series, file, rank, arrangement, sequence, succession, array, tierbankrupt ADJECTIVE = insolvent, broke (informal), spent, ruined, wiped out (informal), impoverished, beggared, in the red, on the rocks, destitute, gone bust (informal), in receivership, gone to the wall, in the hands of the receivers, on your uppers, in queer street (informal) ◼ OPPOSITE: solventbankruptcy NOUN = insolvency, failure, crash, disaster, ruin, liquidation, indebtednessbanner NOUN 1 = flag, standard, colours, jack, pennant, ensign, streamer, pennon 2 = placardbanquet NOUN = feast, spread (informal), dinner, meal, entertainment, revel, blowout (slang), repast, slap-up meal (Brit. informal), hakari (N.Z.)banter NOUN She heard them exchanging good-natured banter. = joking, kidding (informal), ribbing (informal), teasing, jeering, mockery, derision, jesting, chaff, pleasantry, repartee, wordplay, badinage, chaffing, raillery, persiflage ▸ VERB They went bowling together and bantered easily. = joke, kid (informal), rib (informal), tease, taunt, jeer, josh (slang), jest, take the mickey (informal), chaffbaptism NOUN 1 We are at a site of baptism, a place of worship. = christening, sprinkling, purification, immersion 2 The new members face a tough baptism against Leeds. = initiation, beginning, debut, introduction, admission, dedication, inauguration, induction, inception, rite of passage, commencement, investiture, baptism of fire, instatementbaptize VERB 1 I think your mother was baptized a Catholic. = christen, cleanse, immerse, purify, besprinkle 2 baptized into the Church of England = initiate, admit, introduce, invest, recruit, enrol, induct, indoctrinate, instatebar NOUN 1 the city's most popular country and western bar = public house, pub (informal, chiefly Brit.), counter, inn, local (Brit. informal), lounge, saloon, tavern, canteen, watering hole (facetious, slang), boozer (Brit. & Austral. & N.Z. informal), beer parlour (Canad.), roadhouse, hostelry (archaic, facetious), alehouse (archaic), taproom 2 a crowd throwing stones and iron bars = rod, staff, stick, stake, rail, pole, paling, shaft, baton, mace, batten, palisade, crosspiece 3 one of the fundamental bars to communication = obstacle, block, barrier, hurdle, hitch, barricade, snag, deterrent, obstruction, stumbling block, impediment, hindrance, interdict ◼ OPPOSITE: aid ▸ VERB 1 For added safety, bar the door to the kitchen. = lock, block, secure, chain, attach, anchor, bolt, blockade, barricade, fortify, fasten, latch, obstruct, make firm, make fast 2 He stepped in front of her, barring her way. = block, restrict, hold up, restrain, hamper, thwart, hinder, obstruct, impede, shut off 3 They have been barred from playing in several countries. = exclude, ban, forbid, prohibit, keep out of, disallow, shut out of, ostracize, debar, blackball, interdict, black ◼ OPPOSITE: admitbarb NOUN 1 Apply gentle pressure on the barb with the point of the pliers. = point, spur, spike, thorn, bristle, quill, prickle, tine, prong 2 The barb stung her exactly the way he hoped it would. = dig, abuse, slight, insult, put-down, snub, sneer, scoff, rebuff, affront, slap in the face (informal), gibe, aspersionbarbarian NOUN 1 Our maths teacher was a bully and a complete barbarian. = savage, monster, beast, brute, yahoo, swine, ogre, sadist 2 The visitors looked upon us all as barbarians. = lout, hooligan, illiterate, vandal, yahoo, bigot, philistine, ned (Scot. slang), hoon (Austral. & N.Z. informal), cougan (Austral. slang), scozza (Austral. slang), bogan (Austral. slang), ruffian, ignoramus, boor, lowbrow, vulgarian ▸ ADJECTIVE rude and barbarian people = uncivilized, wild, rough, savage, crude, primitive, vulgar, illiterate, barbaric, philistine, uneducated, unsophisticated, barbarous, boorish, uncouth, uncultivated, lowbrow, uncultured, unmannered ◼ OPPOSITE: civilizedbarbaric ADJECTIVE 1 a particularly barbaric act of violence = brutal, fierce, cruel, savage, crude, vicious, ruthless, coarse, vulgar, heartless, inhuman, merciless, bloodthirsty, remorseless, barbarous, pitiless, uncouth 2 a prehistoric and barbaric world = uncivilized, wild, savage, primitive, rude, barbarian, barbarous ◼ OPPOSITE: civilizedbarbarism NOUN = cruelty, outrage, atrocity, brutality, savagery, ruthlessness, wickedness, inhumanity, barbarity, viciousness, coarseness, crudity, monstrousness, heinousness, fiendishness, barbarousnessbarbarity NOUN 1 = viciousness, horror, cruelty, brutality, ferocity, savagery, ruthlessness, inhumanity 2 the barbarities committed by the invading army = atrocity, cruelty, horror, inhumanitybarbarous ADJECTIVE 1 He thought the poetry of Whitman barbarous. = uncivilized, wild, rough, gross, savage, primitive, rude, coarse, vulgar, barbarian, philistine, uneducated, brutish, unsophisticated, uncouth, uncultivated, unpolished, uncultured, unmannered 2 It was a barbarous attack on a purely civilian train. = brutal, cruel, savage, vicious, ruthless, ferocious, monstrous, barbaric, heartless, inhuman, merciless, remorseless, pitilessbarbed ADJECTIVE 1 barbed comments = cutting, pointed, biting, critical, acid, hostile, nasty, harsh, savage, brutal, searing, withering, scathing, unkind, hurtful, belittling, sarcastic, caustic, scornful, vitriolic, trenchant, acrid, catty (informal), mordant, mordacious 2 The factory was surrounded by barbed wire. = spiked, pointed, toothed, hooked, notched, prickly, jagged, thorny, pronged, spiny, snaggybard NOUN = poet, singer, rhymer, minstrel, lyricist, troubadourbare ADJECTIVE 1 He seemed unaware that he was bare. = naked, nude, stripped, exposed, uncovered, shorn, undressed, divested, denuded, in the raw (informal), disrobed, unclothed, buck naked (slang), unclad, scuddy (slang), without a stitch on (informal), in the bare scud (Scot. slang), naked as the day you were born (informal) ◼ OPPOSITE: dressed 2 bare wooden floors = simple, basic, severe, spare, stark, austere, spartan, unadorned, unfussy, unvarnished, unembellished, unornamented, unpatterned, bare-bones