churchchurch /tʃɜːtʃ $ tʃɜːrtʃ/ ●●● S1 W1 noun 
a short church service church bells2[uncountable] the religious ceremonies in a church: Mrs Dobson invited us to dinner after church. My parents go to church every Sunday.at church We didn’t see you at church this morning.3[countable] (also Church) one of the separate groups within the Christian religion: the Catholic Church4[singular, uncountable] the institution of the Christian religion, and all the priests and other ministers who are part of it: the church’s attitude towards marriage separation of church and stateCOLLOCATIONSADJECTIVES/NOUN + churchthe local church (=the one in a particular area, or near where you live)· The local church dates from the 12th century.a parish church British English (=the main Christian church in a particular area)· This is the parish church for three villages near here.a country/town church· an attractive country church surrounded by treesa (Roman) Catholic church· I followed the crowds to the Roman Catholic church for Mass.verbsgo to church (also attend church formal) (=go to a regular religious ceremony in a church)· Do you go to church?marry/get married in a church· I’d like to get married in a church.church + NOUNa church service (=a religious ceremony in a church)· There’s a church service at 10:30 every Sunday morning.a church hall (=a large room in a church)· The dance was held in the church hall.church music· church music for small choirschurch bells· I could hear the church bells ringing.a church tower· I looked at the clock on the church tower.a church spire/steeple (=a church tower with a pointed top)· The tall church spires could be seen from far away.the church choir (=a group of people who lead the singing in a church)· Steve’s a member of the local church choir.a church wedding (=in a church)· She wants to have a church wedding.THESAURUS– Meaning 3religious groupchurch one of the different groups within the Christian religion – used especially in names: · The Roman Catholic church is expanding.· members of the Church of Englanddenomination a religious group that has slightly different beliefs from other groups who belong to the same religion: · Our staff come from churches of all denominations.· Several denominations have developed among Jews.sect a religious group that has separated from a larger group: · He is a leader in the powerful Ansar Sunni Muslim sect.cult an extreme religious group that is not part of an established religion: · Members of the cult all committed suicide on the same day.
WORD ORIGINchurch
Origin:
Old English cirice, from Late Greek kyriakon, from Greek kyriakos ‘of the lord’, from kyrios ‘lord, master’EXAMPLES FROM OTHER DICTIONARIES
- Do you go to church every Sunday?
- Even though I belong to the Catholic Church, I don't agree with everything it says.
- He took us to a Pentecostal meeting in one of the city's many black churches.
- Prayer in schools may be against the separation of church and state that the Constitution requires.
- The Church of England finally agreed to accept the ordination of women priests.
- The evangelical churches are particularly strong in the big cities.
- Despite all obstacles, state conventions of black Baptist churches did form.
- During the Middle Ages, living pictures of biblical stories were used in churches to educate the illiterate masses.
- I've seen her in church occasionally.
- It may be no more than a little park near work or a church that you stop by during lunch hour.
- Or does it simply make clear that the church tolerates a margin of contradictory views in which extremists can flourish?
- The number of divorcees remarrying in church has risen steadily since such weddings were sanctioned in 1981.
THESAURUSreligious group
one of the different groups within the Christian religion – used especially in names: · The Roman Catholic church is expanding.· members of the Church of England
a religious group that has slightly different beliefs from other groups who belong to the same religion: · Our staff come from churches of all denominations.· Several denominations have developed among Jews.
a religious group that has separated from a larger group: · He is a leader in the powerful Ansar Sunni Muslim sect.
an extreme religious group that is not part of an established religion: · Members of the cult all committed suicide on the same day.
Longman Language Activatora religious group a religious group that is part of a larger religious group, but has slightly different beliefs and ceremonies: · Islam has two main sects: the Sunnis and the Shias.· A monk named Kashyapa is regarded as the founder of the Zen sect of Buddhism.· She is a member of a religious sect that was formed from various aspects of Asian religions. · a fundamentalist sect
a smaller group within the Christian religion: · The evangelical churches are particularly strong in the big cities.· He took us to a Pentecostal meeting in one of the city's many black churches.the Catholic/Methodist/Mormon etc Church: · Even though I belong to the Catholic Church, I don't agree with everything it says.the Church of England/Scotland: · The Church of England finally agreed to accept the ordination of women priests.
an extreme religious group that is not part of an established religion, and that many people think is strange and possibly harmful to the people who get involved in it: · Dozens of religious cults have appeared in the US, most making a fortune for their leaders.· Members of the cult are not allowed to marry or own property without permission.· A spokesman denied the group is a cult and said members could leave whenever they wanted.
WORD SETSabbess, nounabbey, nounabbot, nounabsolution, nounAdvent, nounalleluia, interjectionaltar boy, nounAnglican, nounAnglo-Catholic, nounapocalyptic, adjectiveapostle, nounapostolic, adjectivearchbishop, nounarchbishopric, nounarchdeacon, nounarchdiocese, nounArk of the Covenant, nounAsh Wednesday, nounAuthorized Version, banns, nounbaptism, nounBaptist, nounbaptize, verbbasilica, nounbeadle, nounbeatify, verbBenedictine, nounbenediction, nounbenefice, nounbiblical, adjectivebiretta, nounbishop, nounbishopric, nounblaspheme, verbblasphemy, nounbrother, nounbull, nounCalvinism, nounCalvinist, adjectivecanon, nouncanonical, adjectivecanonize, verbcanon law, nouncantor, nouncardinal, nouncardinal sin, nouncarol, nouncatechism, nouncathedral, nounCatholic, adjectivechantry, nounchapel, nounchaplain, nounchaplaincy, nounchapter, nounchapterhouse, nouncherub, nounChrist, nounchristen, verbChristendom, nounchristening, nounChristian, nounChristian, adjectivechurch, nounchurchgoer, nounchurchman, nounChurch of England, nounchurchwarden, nounchurchwoman, nounchurchyard, nounclergyman, nounclergywoman, nouncleric, nounclerical, adjectiveclerk, nouncloister, nouncollect, nouncommandment, nouncommunicant, nouncompline, nounconfess, verbconfession, nounconfessional, nounconfessor, nounconfirmation, nouncongregation, nounCongregationalism, nounconsecrate, verbcope, nouncreationist, nouncreche, nouncrib, nouncrosier, nouncrozier, nouncrucifix, nouncrucifixion, nouncrusade, nouncrusade, verbcrypt, nouncuracy, nouncurate, noundeacon, noundeaconess, noundean, noundeanery, noundiocese, noundisciple, noundisestablish, verbdispensation, noundog collar, nounDominican, nounEaster, nounecclesiastic, nounecclesiastical, adjectiveecumenical, adjectiveEden, nounelder, nounencyclical, nounEpiphany, nounepiscopal, adjectiveEpistle, nounevangelical, adjectiveevangelist, nounevangelize, verbevensong, nounexcommunicate, verbexegesis, nounfellowship, nounflagellant, nounflagellate, verbflock, nounfont, nounFr, friar, nounfrock, nounfundamentalist, noungargoyle, noungenuflect, verbgodfather, nounGod-fearing, adjectivegodless, adjectivegodly, adjectivegodmother, noungodparent, noungodson, nounGood Friday, noungrace, noungracious, adjectiveHail Mary, nounharvest festival, nounHigh Church, nounHigh Mass, nounHoly Communion, nounHoly Father, nounHoly Spirit, nounHoly Week, nounHoly Writ, nounhomily, nounhymn book, nounimprimatur, nounincarnation, nouninduct, verbindulgence, nouninquisitor, nouninterdenominational, adjectiveinterdict, nounJehovah, Jesuit, nounJesus, judgment day, nounlay, adjectivelay reader, nounlectern, nounlesson, nounlitany, nounLow Church, nounlychgate, nounMadonna, nounmanna, nounmanse, nounmatins, nounmeeting-house, nounmessianic, adjectiveMethodist, nounminister, nounministerial, adjectiveministry, nounminster, nounmiracle, nounmissal, nounmissionary, nounmitre, nounmoderator, nounMonsignor, nounMorning Prayer, nounmortal sin, nounMother of God, nounMother Superior, nounname day, nounNativity, nounNativity play, nounnave, nounNegro spiritual, nounNoah's ark, nounNonconformist, adjectivenuncio, nounoffertory, nounoratory, nounordination, nounoriginal sin, nounOur Father, nounOur Lady, Our Lord, padre, nounPalm Sunday, nounpapacy, nounpapal, adjectivepapist, nounparable, nounparish, nounparish church, nounparish clerk, nounparishioner, nounparochial, adjectiveparochial school, nounparson, nounparsonage, nounpassion play, nounpastor, nounpatriarch, nounpatron saint, nounpenance, nounpenitent, nounPentecost, nounPentecostal, adjectiveperdition, nounPlymouth Brethren, nounpontiff, nounpontifical, adjectivepontificate, nounPope, nounprayer book, nounpredestination, nounprelate, nounPresbyterian, nounpresbytery, nounpriest, nounPrimate, nounprior, nounprioress, nounpriory, nounPromised Land, the, Protestant, nounpsalm, nounpsalmist, nounpsalter, nounpulpit, nounQuaker, nounRC, rector, nounrectory, nounredeem, verbredemption, nounrequiem, nounRev, Revd, Reverend, nounReverend Mother, nounrevival, nounrevival meeting, nounRoman Catholic, adjectiverood screen, nounrosary, nounsacrament, nounsacristan, nounsacristy, nounsaint, nounsainted, adjectivesainthood, nounsaint's day, nounsalvation, nounsanctuary, nounSatan, nounsave, verbschism, nounscriptural, adjectivesecular, adjectivesee, nounseminary, nounseraph, nounsermon, nounsexton, nounShrove Tuesday, nounsister, nounsisterhood, nounSJ, special licence, nounsteeple, nounstigmata, nounstoup, nounSunday school, nounsurplice, nounsynod, nountabernacle, nountestify, verbtransubstantiation, nounTrappist, noununfrock, verbUnitarian, nounvenial, adjectivevespers, nounvestment, nounvestry, nounvicar, nounvicarage, nounvotive, adjectivevow, nounVulgate, the, nounWhitsun, nounwimple, nounXmas, noun
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE ENTRYADJECTIVES/NOUN + church
(=the one in a particular area, or near where you live)· The local church dates from the 12th century.
British English (=the main Christian church in a particular area)· This is the parish church for three villages near here.
· an attractive country church surrounded by trees
· I followed the crowds to the Roman Catholic church for Mass.
verbs (also attend church formal) (=go to a regular religious ceremony in a church)· Do you go to church?
· I’d like to get married in a church.
church + NOUN (=a religious ceremony in a church)· There’s a church service at 10:30 every Sunday morning.
(=a large room in a church)· The dance was held in the church hall.
· church music for small choirs
· I could hear the church bells ringing.
· I looked at the clock on the church tower.
(=a church tower with a pointed top)· The tall church spires could be seen from far away.
(=a group of people who lead the singing in a church)· Steve’s a member of the local church choir.
(=in a church)· She wants to have a church wedding.
COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES· She woke on Sunday morning to the sound of church bells.
· They live in a 17th-century farmhouse.
(=one on the outside of a church tower)
(=used by people who live in a place) A coffee morning is to be held in the village hall.
A coffee morning is to be held in the village hall.· A meeting will be held at the village hall on Tuesday.
· I wanted a church wedding.
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE CORPUSADJECTIVE· Look at what we can learn from the black churches.· Far into the next century, Du Bois lost support of many black church people when he espoused the creed of Marxism.· He circulated them to black churches and initially got some resistance because of his history as a blues artist.· In recent weeks, black churches have burned in such places as Elko, Ga..· The next day Kennedy was addressing a meeting in a black church in Los Angeles.· Working with black ministers, it asked each black church to find at least one family willing to adopt a child.· This dear woman brought the clean washing in a black bag to church and left it in the vestibule.
· Dickinson stopped outside a Catholic church on the outskirts of St Denis.· Outsiders would not respect the hierarchies of leaders whose ranks were as formally defined as those of the Roman Catholic church.· There is a Roman Catholic church with a Virgin Mary statue out front.· Our families are restored by forces of regeneration from both fundamentalist Protestant and traditionalist Catholic churches.· Look too for the cupola and arched ceilings that marry the high decoration of Catholic churches with an excellent sense of style.· The attack was within the context of a speech largely praising the Roman catholic church in Ireland.· It wasn't defined by the Roman Catholic church until 1854.
· The early church faced this problem too.· This phase of religious intensification began in the late 1950s and early 1960s when church membership began to grow across all denominations.· St Mark was writing at a time when the early church was under terrible persecution.· The problem of her scant appearances in the New Testament was readily solved by early church scholars.· If all of the evidence for early church sites is put together, we can see that these were widespread before 1066.· This is an early church, dating from the ninth-century, which was rebuilt under the direction of San Carlo Borromeo.· Some of the early church fathers used to argue that marriage was more of a sacrifice than celibacy.· It is a well-preserved and particularly fine example and one of the four early churches extant.
· He was involved in the establishing of local administration, churches and schools.· He took orders from no bishop and could start a local church at any crossroads at which he could attract a gathering.· Below: Skyview of Pembury in Kent use this delightful view of a local church as their business card.· Typically when the Graham crusade goes into a community, it garners participation from a third of the local churches.· The local guide book will provide information on local churches and public services.· Bennett and others promote cultural renewal through public sermonizing and support for local initiatives like church programs to teach parental responsibility.· Embracing local and provincial churches was the Church, headed by the papacy.· Then one lady wrote and said that the ladies of the local church should do it for us.
· Then, as the congregation grew, she bought land off Edge Hill and had a fine new church built in 1887.· When you start a new church, if you begin informatively you promote healthy natural growth among these people.· And yet many of these new churches have to confess they find themselves in precisely this position.· They are now back in this country in the process of establishing new Vineyard churches.· If my people ... Behind all these initiatives, the new church needs to pray.· The houses remained until the early 1950s when they were knocked down to make way for the new church.· But at the same time, they are to start planting new churches.
· The final indignities suffered by our old church has been in the last few years.· In that office he translated the old church language about a sense of mission, redirecting it to the nation.· If the manor was opulent, the old church was positively bleak.· The ruins of old Seagoe church are to be seen in the lower graveyard.· His greatest holiday delight was to view old churches and their stained glass.· It was also in Edessa that the oldest known church was built, then destroyed in A.D. 201.· Along with the name came the Servite Fathers who had officiated at the old church.· It used to be the site of an old church, and has already been previously excavated.
· The monks of Valaam could be regarded as the future of the orthodox church.· Austin has two main Orthodox churches.· Many areas in which the new buildings are going up already have Orthodox churches with a shortage of parishioners.· Like all Orthodox churches it was divided into three sections.· During Lent, in the Orthodox churches, the gospels are read at a single sitting.
· The Roman church was exercising leadership long before anyone appealed to this text.· The Roman Catholic church forbade the wedding of cousins.· There is a Roman Catholic church with a Virgin Mary statue out front.· Like most Roman churches, the building is of brick and is fronted by a porch and open narthex.· The attack was within the context of a speech largely praising the Roman catholic church in Ireland.· The Roman catholic church, in episcopal statements, unequivocally condemns violence North or South.· Away from the shops, the Roman Catholic church faced a wide tree-lined eighteenth-century street.
NOUN· The church bell was tolling mournfully as the carriage entered the cemetery gate.· The air was filled with the tolling of church bells.· It was as if a harvest festival were enacted daily, for throughout the hours of market the church bell tolled quietly.· Last night I heard church bells in the background.· The window was open at the top and I could hear the church bells ringing in the distance.· The church bells were ringing, and the streets were filled with well-dressed people.· In the distance he heard the church bells signal the awakening of a new day.
· Rehearsals every day in church hall from ten till five-thirty.· In March 1973 the Trustees returned to the original idea of building a church hall attached to the Memorial hall.· It's much easier to hide in a church hall!· He would be at the next meeting in the church hall along with Swire Sugden, and were they in for a surprise!· Sadberge met their rivals, Haughton-le-Skerne, near Darlington, in Haughton church hall yesterday for a championship game.· I started up the bagpipes and was soon under way, marching up and down the church hall.· When I walked into that church hall I was unaware of what was to come next.· The village supports a church hall and a village institute.
· In 1859 the tsar intervened personally to prevent church leaders from consigning Belliustin to a monastery in the White Sea.· Northern church leaders used equally strong language about their southern counterparts.· New converts and transfers in should be introduced to the church leaders and members of the congregation.· Similar appeals to restive Protestant gunmen came Thursday from civic and church leaders and government officials.· Prophets and priests, disciples and church leaders are male.· Civic and church leaders are turning to downtown businesses for help in replacing shrinking government resources.· You are also asked to keep your church leaders informed of your involvement so that they can ensure you are adequately supported.· It would be headed by the Monarch, followed by the Lord Mayor of London, the aristocracy and church leaders.
· The tradition of church music was confused by the peculiar nature of Henry VIII's semi-Reformation.· Together with the evident popularity of cathedral music, these are a cause of encouragement for church music in this country.· However, it is the combination of words and music which constitutes what most people understand as church music.· Most of its 3,000 members are Anglicans and many of them work in the field of church music.· Another body concerned with qualifications in church music is the Guild of Church Musicians.· Chosen with discrimination, they make a welcome addition to parish church music.· And that voice was nothing like the voice he had heard on the tape of church music.· Sales of traditional church music records are boosted annually before Christmas, with a wide variety of recordings of carols.
· Main character established between twelfth and fifteenth centuries, with the choir later restored for use as parish church.· Even in the parish churches it is heard lingering among the faithful.· This was the only Nonconformist chapel Butterfield ever designed and in 1976 it became a parish church.· Father Luke pedalled backwards in the direction of Whitechapel's parish church and fell over the barrow.· The family has been told a rabbit would be allowed on the head stone of the infant in the parish church.· Not all, however, survived, and of those that did, not all became parish churches.· It has a very old parish church, St Mary's, and the Lamb Inn opposite is fifteenth century.· Today we see this in terms of which places have the shops, local school, or perhaps the parish church.
· Likewise, in a church school, priorities such as those stated in the admissions policy here can properly be applied.· Can children attend church school at home?· At first I tried to make a comparison between a large northern comprehensive school and a smaller London church school.· He said the move increased parental choice and responded to complaints that the Government was discriminating against church schools.· Funding church schools is foolishly promoting bigotry and intolerance.· However, I continued to collect data from the church school.· The council says it's trying to save money, and is merely proposing to bring church schools into line with other state schools.· Both Alex and Thrash attended church schools and still nurse sour memories of indoctrination there.
· She is also expected to join other royals at the church service on Christmas Day.· He succumbs to the temptation of attending church services at Lowick, where Casaubon cuts him irretrievably.· If the burial service follows a church service on a separate occasion, a fee will be charged.· The church services were mercifully short.· On Sundays no fewer than 15 church services were available.· There will be fireworks, concerts, parties, dinners, church services, receptions and a parade.· Those wishing to attend church services also have to make their way to Kirkburn.· Some attended secret Christmas Day church services, while many more continued to celebrate the day with traditional feasting and merriment.
· The village church, tucked away at the very end of a winding leafy lane, is dedicated to St Mary.· On Sundays there was a morning service in the village church and an evening hymn-sing in the auditorium.· When he had leisure he went bicycling to Lincolnshire village churches.· The village church is gone, the orphanage is still standing, though one wing of it has been gutted by fire.· Coberley Mill, formerly known as Cubberly, nestles deep in the valley, close to the village church.· They are quietly married in the village church.· Of great interest are the church bells, very fine for a small village church.· The remarkable Black Virgin of Belloc has been transferred from her abandoned mountain sanctuary to the village church of Dorres.
VERB· They attend different churches and are said to hold separate bank accounts.· Once, while attending church, I saw the priest snoring while the lector read from the Bible.· They married with a view to inheritance, attended the local Protestant church and contributed handsomely to its building programme.· The people who attend Pentecostal churches tend to be from the same population that plays the lottery.· What about those who would like to attend church but through disability or remoteness are unable to do so?· He had attended church, had a family, helped in the underground railroad, fought in the Civil War.· Those wishing to attend church services also have to make their way to Kirkburn.· Various indicators suggest less than 10 percent of San Franciscans regularly attend church.
· A large Family Centre being built next to the church will cater for various activities.· They built churches, hospices, monasteries, and convents.· The Ecclesiological Society wanted to build a model church.· She asked him to build a church to her memory and per-formed the first miracle in the New WoAd.· And plans are already afoot to to build a church there called the Cathedral On Spilt Blood.· He built churches and converted thousands.· In March 1973 the Trustees returned to the original idea of building a church hall attached to the Memorial hall.· Ike and New Hope were building an even bigger church next door to the old new one.
· At first when you enter, the church seems forbidding and rather a muddle.· When the bodyguards have parked and walked to his car, he gets out and enters the church.· They could not enter the church, were excommunicated and were never to eat meat.· She told me about her brother being handed a pink azalea plant as he entered church for the funeral service.· People walked many miles just to enter a church building even once a month.· On entering a church the Roman Catholic drops to one knee and makes the sign of the cross.· From here cross the road and enter the church gate.
· They are now back in this country in the process of establishing new Vineyard churches.· Naturally most of the more established churches were embarrassed and angered by the unseemly goings on.
PHRASES FROM OTHER ENTRIES► a broad church► pillar of society/the community/the church etc
1[countable] a building where Christians go to worship: - Despite the recent successes of house churches and charismatic movements, the overall picture is unchanged.
- Evangelical and charismatic church seem to be more successful in bring adults to faith.
- We see the resurgence in the new nonconformism of the house churches and sometimes in the charismatic movement.
- Carroll did not choose to keep a low profile but spoke up on many issues, often against the officially established religion.
- During the plague, the rich people and most of the ministers who had remained in the established church fled from London.
- His rebellion began quietly enough in a dispute over whether or not to pay taxes for established religion.
- Naturally most of the more established churches were embarrassed and angered by the unseemly goings on.
- That same light revealed the corruption of the established Church.
- The only result of clerical opposition was that the established Church once again forfeited its chance to control developments.
- The representatives from seventeen national parties at the Paris conference were quite plainly non-attenders in the established church of politics.
- Therefore, it is certainly more comfortable to remain in the security of stable established church life.
- And I was going to school.
- Dad, I want to go to school.
- Everyone says the space program is great, he goes to work on the space program.
- His Mum went to work this afternoon.
- I was too upset to go to school.
- Keith makes himself go to work.
- Phillips should have lost his eligibility for the year while continuing to just go to school.
- When he was told he must go to school, he said he would not.
- In Sanchersville, she opened a storefront law office perforating the heart of the ghetto.
a short church service church bells2[uncountable] the religious ceremonies in a church: Mrs Dobson invited us to dinner after church. My parents go to church every Sunday.at church We didn’t see you at church this morning.3[countable] (also Church) one of the separate groups within the Christian religion: the Catholic Church4[singular, uncountable] the institution of the Christian religion, and all the priests and other ministers who are part of it: the church’s attitude towards marriage separation of church and stateCOLLOCATIONSADJECTIVES/NOUN + churchthe local church (=the one in a particular area, or near where you live)· The local church dates from the 12th century.a parish church British English (=the main Christian church in a particular area)· This is the parish church for three villages near here.a country/town church· an attractive country church surrounded by treesa (Roman) Catholic church· I followed the crowds to the Roman Catholic church for Mass.verbsgo to church (also attend church formal) (=go to a regular religious ceremony in a church)· Do you go to church?marry/get married in a church· I’d like to get married in a church.church + NOUNa church service (=a religious ceremony in a church)· There’s a church service at 10:30 every Sunday morning.a church hall (=a large room in a church)· The dance was held in the church hall.church music· church music for small choirschurch bells· I could hear the church bells ringing.a church tower· I looked at the clock on the church tower.a church spire/steeple (=a church tower with a pointed top)· The tall church spires could be seen from far away.the church choir (=a group of people who lead the singing in a church)· Steve’s a member of the local church choir.a church wedding (=in a church)· She wants to have a church wedding.THESAURUS– Meaning 3religious groupchurch one of the different groups within the Christian religion – used especially in names: · The Roman Catholic church is expanding.· members of the Church of Englanddenomination a religious group that has slightly different beliefs from other groups who belong to the same religion: · Our staff come from churches of all denominations.· Several denominations have developed among Jews.sect a religious group that has separated from a larger group: · He is a leader in the powerful Ansar Sunni Muslim sect.cult an extreme religious group that is not part of an established religion: · Members of the cult all committed suicide on the same day.