Collins English Thesaurus Essential. Collins Dictionaries
of collapse. = failure, slump, breakdown, flop (informal), downfall 3 A few days after his collapse he was sitting up in bed. = faint, breakdown, blackout, prostrationcollar VERB = seize, catch, arrest, appropriate, grab, capture, nail (informal), nab (informal), apprehend, lay hands oncollate VERB = collect, gather, organize, assemble, compose, adduce, systematizecollateral NOUN = security, guarantee, deposit, assurance, surety, pledgecolleague NOUN = fellow worker, partner, ally, associate, assistant, team-mate, companion, comrade, helper, collaborator, confederate, auxiliary, workmate, co-worker, confrèrecollect VERB 1 Two young girls were collecting firewood. = gather, save, assemble, heap, accumulate, aggregate, amass, stockpile, hoard ◼ OPPOSITE: scatter 2 They collected donations for a fund to help the earthquake victims. = raise, secure, gather, obtain, acquire, muster, solicit 3 A crowd collected outside. = assemble, meet, rally, cluster, come together, convene, converge, congregate, flock together ◼ OPPOSITE: dispersecollected ADJECTIVE = calm, together (slang), cool, confident, composed, poised, serene, sedate, self-controlled, unfazed (informal), unperturbed, unruffled, self-possessed, keeping your cool, unperturbable, as cool as a cucumber, chilled (informal) ◼ OPPOSITE: nervouscollection NOUN 1 He has gathered a large collection of prints and paintings over the years. = accumulation, set, store, mass, pile, heap, stockpile, hoard, aggregate, congeries 2 Two years ago he published a collection of short stories. = compilation, accumulation, anthology 3 A collection of people of all ages assembled to pay their respects. = group, company, crowd, gathering, assembly, cluster, congregation, assortment, assemblage 4 computer systems designed to speed up the collection of information = gathering, acquisition, accumulation 5 I asked if we could arrange a collection for the refugees. = contribution, donation, alms 6 I put a five-pound note in the church collection. = offering, offertorycollective ADJECTIVE 1 It was a collective decision taken by the full board. = joint, united, shared, common, combined, corporate, concerted, unified, cooperative ◼ OPPOSITE: individual 2 Their collective volume wasn't very large. = combined, aggregate, composite, cumulative ◼ OPPOSITE: separatecollide VERB 1 Two trains collided head-on early this morning. = crash, clash, meet head-on, come into collision 2 It is likely that their interests will collide. = conflict, clash, be incompatible, be at variancecollision NOUN 1 Their van was involved in a collision with a car. = crash, impact, accident, smash, bump, pile-up (informal), prang (informal) 2 a collision between two strong personalities = conflict, opposition, clash, clashing, encounter, disagreement, incompatibilitycolloquial ADJECTIVE = informal, familiar, everyday, vernacular, conversational, demotic, idiomaticcollude VERB = conspire, scheme, plot, intrigue, collaborate, contrive, abet, connive, be in cahoots (informal), machinatecollusion NOUN = conspiracy, intrigue, deceit, complicity, connivance, secret understandingcolonist NOUN = settler, immigrant, pioneer, colonial, homesteader (U.S.), colonizer, frontiersman or frontierswomancolonize VERB = settle, populate, put down roots in, people, pioneer, open upcolonnade NOUN = cloisters, arcade, portico, covered walkcolony NOUN = settlement, territory, province, possession, dependency, outpost, dominion, satellite state, communitycolossal ADJECTIVE = huge, massive, vast, enormous, immense, titanic, gigantic, monumental (informal), monstrous, mammoth, mountainous, stellar (informal), prodigious, gargantuan, herculean, elephantine, humongous or humungous (informal), supersize ◼ OPPOSITE: tinycolour or (U.S.) color NOUN 1 The badges come in twenty different colours and shapes. = hue, tone, shade, tint, tinge, tincture, colourway 2 the latest range of lip and eye colours = paint, stain, dye, tint, pigment, tincture, coloration, colourwash, colorant 3 The ceremony brought a touch of colour to the normally drab proceedings. = liveliness, life, interest, excitement, animation, zest ▸ PLURAL NOUN 1 Troops raised the country's colours in a special ceremony. = flag, standard, banner, emblem, ensign 2 After we were married, he showed his true colours. = nature, quality, character, aspect, personality, stamp, traits, temperament ▸ VERB 1 He couldn't help noticing that she coloured slightly. = blush, flush, crimson, redden, go crimson, burn, go as red as a beetroot 2 The attitude of parents colours the way their children behave. = influence, affect, prejudice, distort, pervert, taint, slant 3 He wrote a highly coloured account of his childhood. = exaggerate, disguise, embroider, misrepresent, falsify, gloss overcolourful ADJECTIVE 1 Everyone was dressed in colourful clothes. = bright, rich, brilliant, intense, vivid, vibrant, psychedelic, motley, variegated, jazzy (informal), multicoloured, Day-glo (trademark), kaleidoscopic ◼ OPPOSITE: drab 2 an irreverent and colourful tale of Restoration England = interesting, rich, unusual, stimulating, graphic, lively, distinctive, vivid, picturesque, characterful ◼ OPPOSITE: boringcolourless ADJECTIVE 1 a colourless, almost odourless liquid = uncoloured, faded, neutral, bleached, washed out, achromatic 2 Her face was colourless, and she was shaking. = ashen, washed out, wan, sickly, anaemic ◼ OPPOSITE: radiant 3 He is a drab, colourless little man. = uninteresting, dull, tame, dreary, drab, lacklustre, vacuous, insipid, vapid, characterless, unmemorable ◼ OPPOSITE: interestingcolumn NOUN 1 Great stone steps led past Greek columns to the main building. = pillar, support, post, shaft, upright, obelisk 2 There were reports of columns of military vehicles appearing on the streets. = line, train, row, file, rank, string, queue, procession, cavalcadecolumnist NOUN = journalist, correspondent, editor, reporter, critic, reviewer, gossip columnist, journo (slang)
coma NOUN = unconsciousness, trance, oblivion, lethargy, stupor, torpor, insensibilitycomatose ADJECTIVE 1 The right side of my brain had been so severely bruised that I was comatose for a month. = unconscious, in a coma, out cold, insensible 2 Granpa lies comatose on the sofa. = inert, stupefied, out cold, somnolent, torpid, insensible, dead to the world (informal), druggedcomb VERB 1 Her reddish hair was cut short and neatly combed. = untangle, arrange, groom, dress 2 Officers combed the woods for the murder weapon. = search, hunt through, sweep, rake, sift, scour, rummage, ransack, forage, fossick (Austral. & N.Z.), go through with a fine-tooth combcombat NOUN Over 16 million men died in combat during the war. = fight, war, action, battle, conflict, engagement, warfare, skirmish ◼ OPPOSITE: peace ▸ VERB new government measures to combat crime = fight, battle against, oppose, contest, engage, cope with, resist, defy, withstand, struggle against, contend with, do battle with, strive against ◼ OPPOSITE: supportcombatant NOUN His grandfather was a Boer war combatant. = fighter, soldier, warrior, contender, gladiator, belligerent, antagonist, fighting man, serviceman or servicewoman ▸ ADJECTIVE the monitoring of ceasefires between combatant states = fighting, warring, battling, conflicting, opposing, contending, belligerent, combativecombative ADJECTIVE = aggressive, militant, contentious, belligerent, antagonistic, pugnacious, warlike, bellicose, truculent, quarrelsome ◼ OPPOSITE: nonaggressivecombination NOUN 1 A combination of factors are to blame. = mixture, mix, compound, blend, composite, amalgam, amalgamation, meld, coalescence 2 The company's chief executive has proposed a merger or other business combination. = association, union, alliance, coalition, merger, federation, consortium, unification, syndicate, confederation, cartel, confederacy, cabalcombine VERB 1 Combine the flour with water to make a paste. = amalgamate, marry, mix, bond, bind, compound, blend, incorporate, integrate, merge, put together, fuse, synthesize ◼ OPPOSITE: separate 2 Disease and starvation are combining to kill thousands. = join