generationgen‧e‧ra‧tion /ˌdʒenəˈreɪʃən/ ●●● S3 W2 AWL noun 
Like most of my generation, I had never known a war. In my generation the divorce rate is very high. the need to preserve the planet for future generationsgeneration of the post-war generation of writersthe younger/older generation (=the younger or older people in society) The younger generation don’t know what hard work is. The story has been handed down from generation to generation.GRAMMAR: Singular or plural verb?• In this meaning, generation is usually followed by a singular verb: · This generation has grown up using Internet technology.• In British English, you can also use a plural verb: · This generation have grown up using Internet technology.Grammar guide ‒ NOUNS2[countable] all the members of a family of about the same age: In those days it was common for three generations of the same family to live together.first-generation/second-generation etc (=being a member of the first, second etc generation to live or be born in a country) first-generation immigrants a third-generation American3[countable] the average period of time between the birth of a person and the birth of that person’s childrenfor generations Some families have lived here for generations. The country’s attitude toward government is harsher than it was a generation ago.4[countable] a group of things that were developed from something else, or from which better things were developedgeneration of the new generation of mobile phones the first generation of nuclear power stationsfirst-generation/second-generation etc second-generation computers5[uncountable] the process of producing something or making something happen SYN productiongeneration of the generation of electricityCOLLOCATIONS– Meanings 1 & 2ADJECTIVES/NOUN + generationmy/your/their etc generation· I consider myself a typical Japanese woman of my generation.future generations· We need to preserve the planet for future generations.the younger generation· The party needs to make its policies appeal to the younger generation too.the older generation· These beliefs were common among the older generation.the new generation (=younger people, especially people who use new ways of doing something)· He is one of the new generation of English players.the next generation· People want to pass on money to the next generation when they die.successive/succeeding generations (=generations that follow one another)· This medical textbook has been used by successive generations of medical students and doctors.earlier generations· As with earlier generations of his family, he had been educated at Bootham School, York.the previous/preceding generation· He was the equal of any of the previous generation of great explorers.later generations· For later generations, however, the chances of getting work on leaving school were much lower.the baby-boom generation (=people born between 1946 and 1964)· Healthcare expenses are expected to rise as the baby-boom generation reaches retirement.generation + NOUNthe generation gap (=the difference between people of different generations)· This study explores the generation gap between parents and their teenage children.phraseshand something down from generation to generation· Native Australians hand down stories and songs from generation to generation.pass something from one generation to the next· Traditional customs are passed from one generation to the next.
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER DICTIONARIES
- a new generation of TV technology
- Many people consider her among the best writers of her generation.
- One generation ago, most families could afford a house on one salary.
- Over half of the people in my generation have parents who are divorced.
- People of his generation often have a hard time with computers.
- the generation of electricity
- There's still a pretty wide generation-gap in German society.
- Three generations of Monroes have lived in this house.
- And the older generation just doing, you know, same old, same old.
- But habits die hard, even from one generation to the next.
- For generations the place where all the more mature locals have come to buy their clothes.
- It was organized to help prepare a generation of scientists whose skills will be increasingly in demand.
- Its status in this respect as the successor of Latin had by then already been developing for generations.
- On average only five of the water fleas in each generation manage to breed before they are eaten by a fish.
- The company is aiming for three generations of products over the next few years.
- The human being, in other words, may be the victim of generations of male choice even more than female choice.
Longman Language Activatorpeople who are the same age
all the people in a society who are about the same age: somebody's generation: · People of his generation often have a hard time with computers.· Many people consider her among the best writers of her generation.generation-gap (=large differences in attitude between different generations): · There's still a pretty wide generation-gap in German society.
all the people who are between two particular ages, considered as a group: · Pregnant women in the 40-45 age group are more likely to suffer complications.· The vacations are designed for the 20-30 age group.
British a group of people, especially children or young people, who are all below a certain age - used especially in education or sport: · Sally teaches the under-5s.· He is one of the best of the under-18s in his football club.
British a group of people, but not usually children or young people, who are all above a certain age - used especially to talk about groups of middle-aged or old people: · Many agencies provide special vacations for the over-50s.· The tennis club has a section for the over-40s.
informal someone between the ages of 20 and 29, 30 and 39 etc: · Howard's book is an entertaining book filled with tips on money management for twenty- and 30-somethings.· The show is about a group of twenty-somethings living in New York City.
a group of people who are the same age, especially children or young people - use this to talk about how people of the same age influence and relate to each other: · By the age of about 10, children will be much more interested in the approval of their peer group than that of their parents or teachers.· She learned to read late, and by the age of 13 was way behind her peers in almost every aspect of school work.peer group pressure (=the strong influence of a peer group): · Kids should be taught to resist peer group pressure to become sexually active too early.
WORD SETSatomic, adjectiveatomic energy, nounbeam, nounbeam, verbbiomass, nounbionic, adjectiveboiler, nounburn, verbclockwork, nouncooling tower, nouncore, nouncritical mass, noundrive, verbdynamic, adjectiveenergy, nounengine, nounfallout, nounfirewood, nounfluorescent, adjectivegenerate, verbgeneration, nounheat, nounheater, nounheating, nouninfra-red, adjectiveirradiate, verbjuice, nounkerosene, nounmeltdown, nounmeter, verbmotor, nounmotor, adjectivemotorized, adjectivenon-renewable, adjectivenuclear, adjectivenuclear fission, nounnuclear-free, adjectivenuclear fusion, nounoutage, nounpeat, nounpetrochemical, nounpetrol, nounpneumatic, adjectivepower, nounpower, verbpower plant, nounquantum, nounradiate, verbradiation, nounradioactive waste, nounradio wave, nounray, nounreactor, nounregister, nounthermostat, nountreadmill, nounturbine, nounwave, nounwavelength, nounwindmill, noun
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE ENTRY Meanings 1 & 2ADJECTIVES/NOUN + generation We’ve been able to save this land from development and preserve it for future generations.
· I consider myself a typical Japanese woman of my generation.
· We need to preserve the planet for future generations.
· The party needs to make its policies appeal to the younger generation too.
· These beliefs were common among the older generation.
(=younger people, especially people who use new ways of doing something)· He is one of the new generation of English players.
· People want to pass on money to the next generation when they die.
(=generations that follow one another)· This medical textbook has been used by successive generations of medical students and doctors.
· As with earlier generations of his family, he had been educated at Bootham School, York.
· He was the equal of any of the previous generation of great explorers.
· For later generations, however, the chances of getting work on leaving school were much lower.
(=people born between 1946 and 1964)· Healthcare expenses are expected to rise as the baby-boom generation reaches retirement.
generation + NOUN (=the difference between people of different generations)· This study explores the generation gap between parents and their teenage children.
phrases· Native Australians hand down stories and songs from generation to generation.
· Traditional customs are passed from one generation to the next.
COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES We’ve been able to save this land from development and preserve it for future generations. (=the difference in attitudes, tastes etc between older and younger people)· Taste in music is a good indicator of the generation gap.
(=someone who is an immigrant, or whose parents were immigrants)· Her parents were first-generation immigrants from Poland.
(=someone whose parents or grandparents were immigrants)· These boys are second-generation immigrants who grew up speaking English.
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE CORPUSADJECTIVE· The tendency for earlier generations to lean so heavily on providence had been connected with the brevity and insecurity of life.· It can be autocratic and invade our privacy in ways that earlier generations could not have envisioned.· Other signs of a relaxation of the extreme punctilio of earlier generations were now clearly to be seen.· But government also can protect people in ways that earlier generations could not have envisioned.· Nobody readily entered that soul-searing shame of their six to seven earlier generations.· To an earlier generation, Clinton and Dole would have been considered men in the Horatio Alger tradition.· Working men of earlier generations had less need to assert who or what they were.· Yet that earlier generation was able to live within its means, balancing budgets year after year.
· Or a weapon to be used against future generations?· If he survived, those patterns would become eternal, for his genes would pass them on to future generations.· His statistics are there in the Somerset yearbooks for future generations to admire.· The president vetoed those cuts, and is working to keep Medicare affordable for this and future generations of seniors.· One can not help wondering what future generations will think of our freaks and follies.· Are its genes transmitted to future generations via the same vehicles as the host's genes?· Furthermore, they did not have the same access to health services that future generations will have received.· He proposed a theory in which the germ plasm was totally isolated from the adult body that transmits it to future generations.
· The rapid building of cheap, poor quality housing was to provide a later generation with serious problems.· The memory of them may have influenced a later generation of religious sculptors.· Visigothic and Burgundian law-codes are more precise, but they date from later generations.· The pattern was set by the first fanatics, destined to become the heroes of later generations.· If later generation was significant, the cavernous conditions in parts of the Carboniferous Limestone could provide remarkable reservoirs.
· Without mentors we have to reinvent the wheel each new generation.· So why don't you both get off prime time telly immediately and make way for the new generation?· Lott knew his bid would be seen as a direct threat to Dole from a new generation of aggressive conservatives.· A new generation of sun care!· The new generation of parachute is faster and more maneuverable.· Pictured opposite: Enterprise Engineering's facilities are well equipped to handle new generation exotic steels.· It performed until 1955, when its tasks were turned over to a new generation of computers.
· But these unearned gains concern only the older generation.· Many of the older generation in the south died; many have emigrated; the rest keep their heads below the parapet.· Awake, as in days of old, the generations of long ago!· Moreover, in the old centralized system, both the new and old generation fighters had the same abysmally low rates.· Normally this financial support passes from older to younger generations in families in a one-way flow.· Many of the poster writers were former students, the older generation of educated youth who had returned from the countryside.· In some ways it was good, though a lot of the older generation of vets didn't like it much.· He was the representative of this older generation in perfection.
· Without your support many fascinating places would otherwise be lost for present and future generations to enjoy.· The present generation is neither one thing nor the other.· Most assembly work is still too complex to be done by the present generation of relatively senseless machines.· When Congress passed the present generation of campaign-finance laws in the 1970s, it created the Federal Election Commission to enforce them.· The present generation of young people is acutely aware of the need for a second language.· The present generation, however, still has to finance the promises already made.· Yet future historians are likely to look more kindly on his achievements for his country than the present generation.
· Where would we be but for the work done by previous generations?· Generation X, best known for its pierced bodies and jaded outlook, is more optimistic about Wall Street than previous generations.· It is a legacy of this and previous generations and must be tackled now.· Unlike previous generations of cruise ships, the ever-larger vessels delivered in recent years have virtually no single cabins.· For a start, those retiring today are better off financially than any previous generation.· Trade and law drew the interest of the kind of talented young men who in previous generations chose ministry for their lifework.· And today's generation is living longer than previous generations.· We travel, change professions, know more and live longer per capita than any previous generation.
· It is often said that the North East was populated by successive generations of industrial scabs.· But it does set up the preconditions for perpetuation of the lack of reading skills within successive generations.· Natural selection is of traits favourable to the survival, not of individuals, but of successive generations.· Some of the vellum bound books are nearly 400 years old and have been read by successive generations of Oxford students.· Cumulative contributions by successive generations of researchers create an increased and increasing understanding.· Knowledge is never static, but successive generations of nurses fail to implement the findings of research.· The bodies of successive generations transport them through time, so that a long-lost character may emerge in a distant descendant.· No medical text has ever been so widely used by successive generations of medical students and doctors.
· Ianthe was the only child of elderly parents, who seemed to be a whole generation removed from those of her contemporaries.· I think my whole generation, at least the ones that were in conflict, have the same thing.· Mrs Thatcher appeared to see herself as the embodiment of revenge upon a whole generation of social engineers.· Before the First World War, which slaughtered a whole generation of men.· Within sight of the goal, a whole generation cut itself off from all that was promised.
· Today, however, especially among the younger generation, we see a very different set of attitudes in western countries.· I was already well-known in classical circles, but this shook up the young generation and made them conscious.· The younger generation is used to Computer Assisted Learning and other modern technology which is an adjunct to learning.· I feel that I can help singers, especially the younger generation.· Voice over It's a recruiting ground for the younger generation and a meeting place for old friends like Billy Connolly.· Basic compassion, not just for the old but for the younger generation too, lies at the heart of this idea.· Normally this financial support passes from older to younger generations in families in a one-way flow.· As gay men grow older they have little to connect them to the vibrancy and hope of a younger generation.
NOUN· While the direct use of fuels for purposes other than electricity generation has gone down, the output of electricity has gone up.· To assist in the development of alternative forms of non-polluting electricity generation.· They capture the heat produced in electricity generation and distribute it through underground pipes.· By then nuclear energy should be contributing more than one-fifth of electricity generation.· Similarly large investments are also necessary in electricity generation.· Conventional electricity generation loses to the atmosphere enough heat for the needs of every home, office and factory in the country.· In the domestic market coal use will be concentrated largely on electricity generation and steel manufacture.· I am delighted with the progress that we are making in finding new sources of electricity generation.
· It seemed that he had a foot planted firmly on both sides of the generation gap.· The generation gap is another evil plan.· This versatile book combines communicative activities with information on topics as varied as national customs, food, and the generation gap.· He tells me that they had a discussion in school about the generation gap.· The generation gap creates tension Law is now a young profession.· With class war anaesthetized by the Cold War and affluence, the generation gap and teenagers became a subject for serious observation.· The results were stunningly successful and caught the flavour of Sixties London and the generation gap.· The generation gap here was too wide.
· It is not an attractive proposition for independent power generation because it is difficult to finance.· The ceramics -- cables encased in a sheath of liquid nitrogen -- are being developed for power generation and other machinery applications.· We could make more efficient use of power generation too.· Another exciting prospect for future power generation is terrestrial fusion power.· The current low gas price does not provide any incentive for the massive use of gas in power generation.· We would like to re-emphasise the need to recycle coastal sites such as those used for power generation.· The government on Dec. 30 suspended coal exports from Jan. 1, 1993, in order to conserve supplies for domestic power generation.· The four other divisions manufacture power generation plant, marine equipment, power transmission and distribution equipment and industrial products.
VERB· They're living proof that asthma can be passed from generation to generation.· When Congress passed the present generation of campaign-finance laws in the 1970s, it created the Federal Election Commission to enforce them.· This is one of the methods by which the history of the people is passed on from generation to generation.· The narratives help parents become conscious of the negative and positive traditions passed down through the generations.· We want to see wealth and security being passed down from generation to generation.· Twilight Tales is a collection of spooky legends and folk tales passed through generations in the Southwest.· They influence development, and they get passed on to future generations.· A generation passed, an entire generation.
WORD FAMILYnoungenerationadjectivegenerational
1[countable] all people of about the same age: Like most of my generation, I had never known a war. In my generation the divorce rate is very high. the need to preserve the planet for future generationsgeneration of the post-war generation of writersthe younger/older generation (=the younger or older people in society) The younger generation don’t know what hard work is. The story has been handed down from generation to generation.GRAMMAR: Singular or plural verb?• In this meaning, generation is usually followed by a singular verb: · This generation has grown up using Internet technology.• In British English, you can also use a plural verb: · This generation have grown up using Internet technology.Grammar guide ‒ NOUNS2[countable] all the members of a family of about the same age: In those days it was common for three generations of the same family to live together.first-generation/second-generation etc (=being a member of the first, second etc generation to live or be born in a country) first-generation immigrants a third-generation American3[countable] the average period of time between the birth of a person and the birth of that person’s childrenfor generations Some families have lived here for generations. The country’s attitude toward government is harsher than it was a generation ago.4[countable] a group of things that were developed from something else, or from which better things were developedgeneration of the new generation of mobile phones the first generation of nuclear power stationsfirst-generation/second-generation etc second-generation computers5[uncountable] the process of producing something or making something happen SYN productiongeneration of the generation of electricityCOLLOCATIONS– Meanings 1 & 2ADJECTIVES/NOUN + generationmy/your/their etc generation· I consider myself a typical Japanese woman of my generation.future generations· We need to preserve the planet for future generations.the younger generation· The party needs to make its policies appeal to the younger generation too.the older generation· These beliefs were common among the older generation.the new generation (=younger people, especially people who use new ways of doing something)· He is one of the new generation of English players.the next generation· People want to pass on money to the next generation when they die.successive/succeeding generations (=generations that follow one another)· This medical textbook has been used by successive generations of medical students and doctors.earlier generations· As with earlier generations of his family, he had been educated at Bootham School, York.the previous/preceding generation· He was the equal of any of the previous generation of great explorers.later generations· For later generations, however, the chances of getting work on leaving school were much lower.the baby-boom generation (=people born between 1946 and 1964)· Healthcare expenses are expected to rise as the baby-boom generation reaches retirement.generation + NOUNthe generation gap (=the difference between people of different generations)· This study explores the generation gap between parents and their teenage children.phraseshand something down from generation to generation· Native Australians hand down stories and songs from generation to generation.pass something from one generation to the next· Traditional customs are passed from one generation to the next.