Collins English Thesaurus Essential. Collins Dictionaries
earlier, already, sooner, ahead, previously, in anticipation, before now, ahead of timebefriend VERB = make friends with, back, help, support, benefit, aid, encourage, welcome, favour, advise, sustain, assist, stand by, uphold, side with, patronize, succourbefuddle VERB = confuse, puzzle, baffle, bewilder, muddle, daze, perplex, mystify, disorient, faze, stupefy, flummox, bemuse, intoxicate ◼ OPPOSITE: make clearbefuddled ADJECTIVE = confused, upset, puzzled, baffled, at sea, bewildered, muddled, dazed, perplexed, taken aback, intoxicated, disorientated, disorganized, muzzy (informal), groggy (informal), flummoxed, woozy (informal), at sixes and sevens, fuddled, inebriated, thrown off balance, discombobulated (informal), not with it (informal), not knowing if you are coming or goingbeg VERB 1 I begged him to come back to England with me. = implore, plead with, beseech, desire (formal), request, pray, petition, conjure (formal), crave (informal), solicit, entreat, importune (formal), supplicate, go on bended knee to 2 I was surrounded by people begging for food. = scrounge (informal), bum (informal), blag (slang), touch (someone) for (slang), mooch (slang), cadge, forage for, hunt around (for), sponge on (someone) for, freeload (slang), seek charity, call for alms, solicit charity ◼ OPPOSITE: give 3 The research begs a number of questions. = dodge, avoid, get out of, duck (informal), hedge, parry, shun, evade, elude, fudge, fend off, eschew, flannel (Brit. informal), sidestep, shirk, equivocate, body-swervebeget VERB 1 Poverty begets debt. = cause, bring, produce, create, effect, lead to, occasion (formal), result in, generate, provoke, induce, bring about, give rise to, precipitate, incite, engender 2 He wanted to beget an heir. = father, breed, generate, sire, get, propagate, procreate (formal)beggar NOUN Now I am a beggar, having lost everything except life. = vagrant (old-fashioned), tramp (old-fashioned), bankrupt, bum (informal), derelict (old-fashioned), drifter, down-and-out, pauper (old-fashioned), hobo (chiefly U.S.), vagabond (old-fashioned), bag lady, dosser (Brit. slang), derro (Austral. slang), starveling (old-fashioned) ▸ VERB The statistics beggar belief. = defy, challenge, defeat, frustrate, foil, baffle, thwart, withstand, surpass, elude, repelbegin VERB 1 He stood up and began to walk around the room. = start, commence, proceed ◼ OPPOSITE: stop 2 The US wants to begin talks immediately. = commence, start, initiate, embark on, set about, instigate, inaugurate, institute, make a beginning, set on foot 3 He didn't know how to begin. = start talking, start, initiate, commence, begin business, get or start the ball rolling 4 It began as a local festival. = come into existence, start, appear, emerge, spring, be born, arise, dawn, be developed, be created, originate, commence, be invented, become available, crop up (informal), come into being 5 The fate line begins close to the wrist. = emerge, start, spring, stem, derive, issue, originate ◼ OPPOSITE: endbeginner NOUN = novice, student, pupil, convert, recruit, amateur, initiate, newcomer, starter, trainee, apprentice, cub, fledgling, learner, freshman, neophyte (formal), tyro, probationer, greenhorn (informal), novitiate, tenderfoot, proselyte ◼ OPPOSITE: expertbeginning NOUN 1 Think of this as a new beginning. = start, opening, break (informal), chance, source, opportunity, birth, origin, introduction, outset, starting point, onset, overture, initiation, inauguration, inception, commencement, opening move ◼ OPPOSITE: end 2 The question was raised at the beginning of this chapter. = outset, start, opening, birth, onset, prelude, preface, commencement, kickoff (informal) 3 His views come from his own humble beginnings. = origins, family, beginnings, stock, birth, roots, heritage, descent, pedigree, extraction, ancestry, lineage, parentage, stirpsbegrudge VERB 1 I certainly don't begrudge him the Nobel Prize. = resent, envy, grudge, be jealous of 2 She spends £2,000 a year on it and she doesn't begrudge a penny. = be bitter about, object to, be angry about, give reluctantly, bear a grudge about, be in a huff about, give stingily, have hard feelings aboutbeguile VERB 1 Her paintings beguiled the critics. = charm, please, attract, delight, occupy, cheer, fascinate, entertain, absorb, entrance, win over, amuse, divert, distract, enchant, captivate, solace, allure, bewitch, mesmerize, engross, enrapture, tickle the fancy of 2 He used his newspapers to beguile his readers. = fool, trick, take in, cheat, con (informal), mislead, impose on, deceive, dupe, gull (archaic), delude, bamboozle, hoodwink, take for a ride (informal), befool ◼ OPPOSITE: enlightenbeguiling ADJECTIVE = charming, interesting, pleasing, attractive, engaging, lovely, entertaining, pleasant, intriguing, diverting, delightful, irresistible, enchanting, seductive, captivating, enthralling, winning, eye-catching, alluring, bewitching, delectable, winsome, likable or likeablebehalf NOUN ● on behalf of something or someone or on something or someone's behalf 1 She made an emotional public appeal on her son's behalf. = as a representative of, representing, in the name of, as a spokesperson for 2 The honour recognizes work done on behalf of classical theatre. = for the benefit of, for the sake of, in support of, on the side of, in the interests of, on account of, for the good of, in defence of, to the advantage of, for the profit of
| USAGE On behalf of is sometimes wrongly used as an alternative to on the part of. The distinction is that on behalf of someone means 'for someone's benefit' or 'representing someone', while on the part of someone can be roughly paraphrased as 'by someone'. |
behave VERB 1 He'd behaved badly. = act, react, conduct yourself, acquit yourself, comport yourself 2 (often reflexive) You have to behave. = be well-behaved, be good, be polite, mind your manners, keep your nose clean, act correctly, act politely, conduct yourself properly ◼ OPPOSITE: misbehavebehaviour NOUN 1 He was asked to explain his extraordinary behaviour. = conduct, ways, actions, bearing, attitude, manner, manners, carriage, demeanour, deportment, mien (literary), comportment 2 This process modifies the cell's behaviour. = action, working, running, performance, operation, practice, conduct, functioningbehead VERB = decapitate, execute, guillotinebehest NOUN ● at someone's behest = at someone's command, by someone's order, at someone's demand, at someone's wish, by someone's decree, at someone's bidding, at someone's instruction, by someone's mandate, at someone's dictate, at someone's commandmentbehind PREPOSITION 1 They were parked behind the truck. = at the rear of, at the back of, at the heels of 2 I wandered along behind him. = after, following 3 He had the state's judicial power behind him. = supporting, for, backing, on the side of, in agreement with 4 I'd like to know who was behind this plot. = causing, responsible for, the cause of, initiating, at the bottom of, to blame for, instigating 5 The work is 22 weeks behind schedule. = later than, after ▸ ADVERB 1 They were grabbed from behind. = the back, the rear 2 The troopers followed behind. = after, next, following, afterwards, subsequently, in the wake (of) ◼ OPPOSITE: in advance of 3 The accounts are more than three months behind. = behind schedule, delayed, running late, behind time ◼ OPPOSITE: ahead 4 They were falling behind with their mortgage payments. = overdue, in debt, in arrears, behindhand ▸ NOUN jeans that actually flatter your behind = bottom (informal), seat, bum (Brit. slang), butt (informal), buns (slang), buttocks, rump, posterior, tail (informal), derrière (euphemistic), tush (U.S. slang), jacksy (Brit. slang)behold VERB = look at, see, view, eye, consider, study, watch, check, regard, survey, witness, clock (Brit. slang), examine, observe, perceive, gaze, scan, contemplate, check out (informal), inspect, discern, eyeball (slang), scrutinize, recce (slang), get a load of (informal), take a gander at (informal), take a dekko at (Brit. slang, old-fashioned), feast your eyes uponbeholden ADJECTIVE = indebted, bound, owing, grateful, obliged, in debt, obligated, under obligationbeige NOUN or ADJECTIVE = fawn, coffee, cream, sand, neutral, mushroom, tan, biscuit, camel, buff, cinnamon, khaki, oatmeal, ecru, café au lait (French)being NOUN 1 beings from outer space