very1 adverbvery2 adjective
veryve‧ry1 /ˈveri/ ●●● S1 W1 adverb 
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER DICTIONARIES
- "Was it a good movie?" "Yes, very."
- Carter went to the very best schools.
- During our time working together I got to know her very well.
- Everything was happening very quickly, and I don't remember it all.
- It's very cold outside.
- Juan is a very good dancer.
- Sid gets embarrassed very easily.
- The ambassador made a brief statement, saying that the talks had been very productive.
- The two brothers died on the very same day.
- There is a very real possibility that two stores will have to be closed.
- This meeting is very important, so be on time.
- Your house is very different from the way I'd imagined it.
- Clearly this is consistent both with a period of about a day and with a very long period.
- He was a very physical person and I recall as a child lying on his chest.
- I see this very clearly underneath your politeness.
- I was not stupid, but I was very lazy.
- Olive trees especially may embody the Goddess, for they live a very long time.
- Only the very old people remembered Albert Porter, and their eyesight was no better than their memory.
- These are very much right-brain tasks, involving both that posterior parietal area and a region of frontal lobe.
- When I was in high school, I was always very thin.
Longman Language Activatorvery
· Juan is a very good dancer.· Your house is very different from the way I'd imagined it.· "Was it a good movie?" "Yes, very."· This meeting is very important, so be on time.· During our time working together I got to know her very well.· Everything was happening very quickly, and I don't remember it all.· The ambassador made a brief statement, saying that the talks had been very productive.
especially spoken use this especially to talk about your feelings or what you think about something: · It's really cold out there.· I'm always really hungry by noon.· That's a really pretty dress - where did you get it?· Considering this was your first time, I think you did really well.
formal very - use this only with particular adjectives: highly dangerous/toxic/flammable: · Danger: highly flammable materials!highly skilled/educated/ trained/intelligent: · Our engineers are highly skilled and very difficult to replace when they leave.highly likely/unlikely/probable/doubtful/suspicious: · I think it's highly unlikely that Bob had anything to do with the theft.highly successful/productive: · She arrived in Australia as a refugee, but went on to become a highly successful lawyer.
use this to describe very strong or very sincere feelings: · We are all deeply saddened by Bill's sudden death.· The ceremony was short but deeply moving.· Senator McCain is deeply committed to campaign finance reform.· I want you to know how deeply grateful I am for everything you've done for me.· Local residents are deeply concerned about the threat to health posed by the power station.
American spoken very: · I think it was real sweet that she called me herself.· The sidewalk was real wet and slippery.· He got up real close to the bear and took a picture.
use this to emphasize how you feel about something: · It all happened so fast.· You've been so kind. I hope I can repay you some day.· The dresses were lovely, and the colours were so pretty.· That puppy is so cute!
especially American, spoken use this to emphasize a description of someone or something: · She's one crazy lady!· That's one fancy car you've got there.
definitely or in a way that is easily noticed: · The weather had turned decidedly chilly.· The play has received decidedly negative reviews.
especially British use this with words that mean 'excellent': · Thank you, Gloria. That meal was quite delicious!· The concert was quite wonderful. I'm sorry you couldn't make it.
extremely especially written use this when you want to use a stronger word than 'very': · The conference was extremely badly organized.· The fungus is extremely difficult to get rid of.· Regular visits to the doctor are extremely important for pregnant mothers.
as much as it is possible to imagine - use this to emphasize adjectives that already have a strong meaning: absolutely marvellous/wonderful/delicious etc: · We had an absolutely marvellous day.· The costumes were absolutely stunning.absolutely filthy/disgusting/awful etc: · When they came in from the yard, they were absolutely filthy.absolutely terrified/exhausted/delighted/furious etc: · She stood in the middle of the stage looking absolutely terrified.absolutely necessary/essential: · Don't call me unless it's absolutely necessary.
spoken extremely: · Our Internet connection is awfully slow today.· He's been terribly ill for the last two weeks.· The plot is terrifically complicated and difficult to follow.· That box looks awfully heavy - are you sure you don't need any help?
spoken say this when you want to emphasize 'very': · I'm very, very angry with her.· This is a very, very important decision - please give it your full attention.· We've been working on this deal for a very, very long time.
use this when something is so good, so bad, so fast etc that you are surprised by it or you find it hard to believe: · Everyone in the company works incredibly hard.· Their house is incredibly cold - I don't think they heat it at all.· What they did was unbelievably stupid.· The apartment is unbelievably cheap - there must be something wrong with it.
use this to emphasize how unreasonable or stupid something is: · The questions seemed ridiculously easy.· The amount they offered for the car was ridiculously low.
use this especially to emphasize how popular, successful, or powerful someone or something is: · Barry's novels have been hugely successful.· "The Wizard of Oz" remains enormously popular with children.· Davis plays an enormously influential role in city politics.
British use this to emphasize how bad something is, or how sad or unhappy someone is: · You must be dreadfully disappointed!· Dreadfully overcrowded trains and frequent cancellations made commuting an ordeal.
use this to emphasize how unusual, impressive, or surprising something is: · Mills' predictions turned out to be remarkably accurate.· The old documents are remarkably well preserved.· Nadine's daughter has an exceptionally fine singing voice.· The heavy soil of the delta produces exceptionally high yields of rice and millet.
not very bad, but not very good especially spoken not good - use this when you are disappointed because you were expecting something better: · "What was the movie like?" "It was OK but the ending wasn't very good."· He's been learning English for five years, but his pronunciation isn't very good.
something that is mediocre is of a lower standard than it should be, and does not show much quality or skill: · The team gave another mediocre performance last night.· Tourists crowd the gift shops to buy mediocre products at high prices.
spoken not very bad, but not especially good: · "Was the food good?" "It was okay, but nothing special."· The town's nice, but the beach is nothing special.
spoken say this when you think that something is good in some ways but there are some bad parts of it too: · My grades were OK, but I thought I should have gotten an 'A' in chemistry.· The game was all right, but it wasn't worth what I paid to watch it.
informal not very good, but not very bad either: · "How is your meal?'' "So-so.''· The hotel was in a lovely location, but the facilities were only so-so.
not as good as other things of the same kind: · People are not willing to pay a lot of money for second-rate works of art.· All they could afford was a room in a second-rate hotel about a mile from the beach.
especially British something that is not up to scratch , is not as good as it should be: · The hotels and transport system in this city are not up to scratch at the moment.
a performance, piece of work etc that is patchy is good in some parts, but bad in others and in general is not good: · The film is patchy, despite one or two good performances.· Many department stores reported patchy sales over Christmas.
British /lackluster American: lacklustre performance not very bad, but not as good as was expected: · The corporation's profits increased dramatically this year, after a rather lacklustre performance last year.
not good at doing something not able to do something well, for example a job, sport, or activity: · He's the worst driver I've ever seen.· Critics blame the students' poor test performances on bad teaching.bad at: · I was always really bad at French!bad at doing something: · I'm very bad at remembering people's names.
if you do something badly , you do it carelessly, not skilfully, or you do it in the wrong way: · Adams admitted that he had played badly.· The company had been badly managed from the start.· Lorna speaks Spanish so badly that no one in our class can understand her.
also not much good British especially spoken not able to do something well: not very good at: · I'm afraid I'm not very good at math.· I'm not much good at speeches but I'll do my best.not very good at doing something: · She's not very good at communicating with other people.· He has never been much good at dealing with people.not very well: · "Do you play the piano?" "Yes, but not very well."not very good as: · She's a nice person, but not much good as a boss.
spoken bad at a skill or activity: · I'm no good at tennis.· Cait freely admits that she's no good at anything except singing.no good at doing something: · Leo's no good at lying -- his face always turns red when he's not telling the truth.
not very good, especially not as good as other people who do the same thing: · She's a second-rate singer.· We spent the evening listening to third-rate writers read their poetry in a seedy nightclub.
not having much ability or skill in a particular activity or subject: · This is Boston's weakest team in years.· When managers' leadership skills are poor, productivity suffers.· I wouldn't trust her. She's always been a poor judge of character.weak/poor at science/history etc: · She's weak at mathematics, and this affects her physics results as well.
an unpleasant taste or smell very bad - use this especially to talk about things that taste, smell, or look really bad: · It was the most disgusting meal I've ever eaten.· He smiled showing his teeth, which were a revolting yellow colour.· What a horrible smell!· Dick had cooked a special stew, which looked and smelled revolting.
tasting or smelling horrible: · Undercooked potatoes taste unpleasant and can be harmful.· Some animals give off an unpleasant odor that deters attackers.
a foul smell or taste is extremely bad, and is caused especially by waste or things decaying: · There was a foul smell coming up from the river.
informal very unpleasant - use this to talk about food, smells, or behaviour that you dislike very much: · Ooh, gross! I hate spinach!· Brad threw up on the floor at the party. It was really gross.
British /not very good/not too good spoken a taste or smell that is not very nice or not very good is slightly unpleasant: · This cheese isn't very good. How long have we had it?· The first time I smoked a cigarette it didn't taste very nice.· I wouldn't cook that if I were you. It doesn't smell too good.
tasting or smelling very strong and unpleasant: · I'm not very keen on this wine. It has a nasty aftertaste.· Police were alerted when neighbors complained of a nasty smell coming from the basement.· Cheap perfume often smells nasty after a couple of hours.
a meal or food that is unappetizing has an unpleasant appearance or smell and does not make you want to eat it: · The soup was cold and unappetizing, but it was all there was.· The main course was an unappetizing leg of chicken with boiled potatoes.
unpleasant person/behaviour especially British behaving in a very rude, unkind, or annoying way: · Her husband was a horrible man - lazy, and always drunk.· I really don't like her at all - she's horrible!be horrible to somebody: · I think I'll go out if you're just going to be horrible to me.
rude or unfriendly in the way you talk to people or answer their questions: · That man in the grocery store is always so unpleasant.· Did she really say that? What an unpleasant person!be unpleasant to somebody: · You shouldn't have been so unpleasant to her - she was only trying to help.
someone who is nasty has a very unpleasant character and is often unkind to people: · I'd avoid him. if I were you. He can be quite nasty.· My first boss was a really nasty person, who seemed to enjoy making life difficult for everyone.be nasty to/towards somebody: · Some of the older boys were being very nasty to him.
American rude and unkind in the way you treat people: · We soon found out that our new teacher could be real mean.be mean to somebody: · Sharon and the others were really mean to me at school today.
especially spoken unkind or unfriendly - use this especially about things people say to each other: · They just told us to shut up, which wasn't very nice.not very nice of somebody: · It wasn't very nice of him to have a party without inviting me.
rude and offensive, especially deliberately Objectionable is more formal than obnoxious: · I'd hate to be her secretary -- she's so obnoxious.· You're behaving like a spoilt obnoxious child.· I'd never have employed him if I'd realized what an objectionable person he was.· What was most objectionable about her was her arrogance.
informal someone who you dislike because they are unpleasant and behave in a way that makes you feel uncomfortable: · Get out of here you little creep! You make me sick!· He didn't say that, did he? What a creep!
informal someone who is very unpleasant and is likely to behave in a cruel or violent way: · Casey and Wyatt went round in a gang with Don, who was a nasty piece of work.· Why would anyone want to kill Howard, do you think?" "It's obvious. He was a nasty piece of work."
an unpleasant experience a horrible experience or situation is one that makes you feel very worried and upset: · It was really horrible coming home and finding all our things had been stolen.· There was a horrible moment when she thought she had left all her files on the train.
horrible - use this especially about events where there is violence, injury, or death: · There was a nasty accident on the freeway and seven people were killed.· a particularly nasty murder case· The news of his death came as a very nasty shock.
making you feel slightly worried, uncomfortable, or embarrassed: · I had an unpleasant feeling that someone was following me.· Phil and Jane argued the whole time, so it was a pretty unpleasant evening.· Then Nel lost her temper and there was an extremely unpleasant scene in Kenwood's office.
especially spoken unpleasant: · It's not very nice being stuck in an elevator for an hour.· Divorce is not a very nice business.
a very unpleasant or frightening experience: · We were stuck in a traffic jam for about four hours - it was a nightmare.· The couple's honeymoon turned into a nightmare when Martin suddenly became very ill.nightmare day/journey etc : · Thousands of commuters faced a nightmare journey to work because of the strikes.nightmare scenario (=the worst possible situation): · An oil spill on this part of the coast is the conservationists' nightmare scenario.
a little tired/sad/older/bigger etc · I'm feeling a little tired, I think I'll go upstairs and have a rest.· When you're a little older, you'll understand why I'm doing this.· "Do you feel sad that you're leaving?" "Just a little."
also a (tiny) bit British informal a little: · I think David was a bit disappointed I forgot his birthday.· I'm a little bit cold. Do you mind if I turn up the heat?· Aren't you a bit young to be going to nightclubs?· I tried on the dress but it was just a tiny bit small.
a little, but not enough to be important or to notice: · Florida has a slightly larger population than Illinois.· Sean's car is a slightly different colour.· Lynn's daughter is only slightly older than mine.
only a little and not as much as you might have expected: · We should be there soon. It's not much further.· His son's not much younger than I am.not much good: · I'm not much good at explaining things.
only a little or not at all: · The house isn't very old. It was built in the 1990s.· I still go running, but not very often.· "Was the bike expensive?" "Not very."· The President was not very happy that the information had been leaked to the press.
not · It's not boring -- it's really interesting.· David's not stupid. He knows what's going on.· This period of history is not well documented.· We're not going on holiday this year.· Buying a yacht isn't as expensive as you might imagine.· "Are you worried about your exams?" "No, I'm not."· It's not a computer -- it's a word processor.
not - use this especially when you do not want to state a negative quality directly: · I wouldn't recommend the fish - it's not very nice.· He isn't very clever, is he?· The figures were different, but at the time we thought it wasn't very important.
not very, or not very much: · It was a good film, not particularly exciting, but enjoyable.· Birmingham isn't a particularly beautiful city.· I didn't particularly want to go out.
not completely, but almost: · The paint's not quite dry yet.· We haven't quite finished yet.
not very or completely: · She's not exactly fat, but she is slightly overweight.· What they're doing is not exactly dishonest, but it's not completely honest either.
use this to say that a negative statement that has just been made about someone is also true about someone else: neither am I/neither does she/neither have we etc: · "I've never been to Australia." "No, neither have I."· Tom didn't believe a word she said, and neither did the police.
not too much · Not too much pizza for me please, I'm on a diet.· I won't give you very much homework tonight, so you have time to finish your essay.not eat/drink/talk etc too much · Don't talk too much now - you need to rest.
· You can have a few chips, but not too many.· Not very many people were interested in the project.
· I wasn't too upset when they told me I hadn't got the job.· It was a beautiful sunny day and not too cold.· Don't hit it too hard - just nudge it over the net.
not too much - use this about eating, drinking, and other things that could be unhealthy if you did them too much: · Moderate exercise, such as walking and swimming, can help to prevent heart disease.· New studies show that moderate drinking is good for you.
if you eat or drink something in moderation , you do not eat or drink too much of it: · He only drinks wine in moderation.· Children should be taught not about "bad foods" and "good foods," but rather to eat a wide variety of foods in moderation.
to not allow yourself to become so excited, annoyed etc by an event or situation that you lose a sense of what is reasonable, sensible, or possible: · My confidence was so low it was difficult to keep things in proportion -- the smallest problem seemed like a major tragedy.· The Party's recent successes in the polls are encouraging but they need to be kept in proportion.
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE ENTRY
I feel a lot better – thank you very much. I’m very, very (=used for emphasis) pleased you can come. My sister and I were married on the very same (=exactly the same) day. We only use the very best ingredients.COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES a highly accomplished designer Lucy is quite clever and does well at school. She’s a highly competent linguist. Mental illness is a very complicated subject. It was a highly dangerous situation. Our sons are very different from each other. He was the very epitome of evil. She seems the very essence of kindness (=she seems very kind). There are only a very few (=not many) exceptions. Alice was deeply hurt that she hadn’t been invited. She likes Biology, but she’s not too keen on Physics. My experience is very much like that described in the book. He’s very like his brother. She’s a lovely girl and I like her very much. I’d very likely have done the same thing in your situation. There’s very little money left. The situation has improved very little. He’s very loving and affectionate with his sister. The boy looked nine at the very most (=he was probably younger). Bayman’s book about his illness is deeply moving. I’m feeling very much better, thank you. Thank you very much! The house was very much as I’d remembered it. Capitalist society is by its very nature unstable. He very nearly died. The food is not very good there. We only see each other very occasionally (=rarely). I quite often go to Paris on business. Very often children who behave badly at school have problems at home. The building will be replaced, most probably by a modern sports centre. People are, quite properly, proud of their homes. The book is informative and highly readable. I tried to get him talking, but he wasn’t very responsive. the exact spot where the king was executed At that age, kids are highly suggestible. Thank you very much, Brian. Thanks very much for your help. The book I wanted was at the very top of the pile. He left as a poor, working class boy and returned as a wealthy man.
I feel a lot better – thank you very much. I’m very, very (=used for emphasis) pleased you can come. My sister and I were married on the very same (=exactly the same) day. We only use the very best ingredients. a highly accomplished designer (=used for emphasis)· He had been lying to me from the very beginning.
· He’s one of the very best players around.
Lucy is quite clever and does well at school. She’s a highly competent linguist. Mental illness is a very complicated subject. It was a highly dangerous situation. Our sons are very different from each other. He was the very epitome of evil. She seems the very essence of kindness (=she seems very kind).· The university's very existence is at stake.
· We ate at a very expensive restaurant.
There are only a very few (=not many) exceptions. (=they have problems with their hearing) Old Zeke doesn’t hear too well anymore.
Old Zeke doesn’t hear too well anymore. informal (=not very good) Some of the tracks on the record are great, but others are not so hot.
Some of the tracks on the record are great, but others are not so hot. Alice was deeply hurt that she hadn’t been invited. She likes Biology, but she’s not too keen on Physics. (=not less than and probably much more than) It would cost $1 million at the very least.
It would cost $1 million at the very least. My experience is very much like that described in the book. He’s very like his brother. She’s a lovely girl and I like her very much.· It did not seem very likely that he was still alive.
I’d very likely have done the same thing in your situation. There’s very little money left. The situation has improved very little.· They were obviously very much in love.
He’s very loving and affectionate with his sister. (=a very large number) Most of the young men went off to the war, and a great many never came back. It all happened a good many years ago.
Most of the young men went off to the war, and a great many never came back. It all happened a good many years ago. (=used for emphasizing that something happened at a particular time)· I could tell something was wrong from the very moment I walked in through the front door.
The boy looked nine at the very most (=he was probably younger). Bayman’s book about his illness is deeply moving. I’m feeling very much better, thank you. Thank you very much! The house was very much as I’d remembered it. Capitalist society is by its very nature unstable. He very nearly died. The food is not very good there. We only see each other very occasionally (=rarely). I quite often go to Paris on business. Very often children who behave badly at school have problems at home. (=exactly the opposite)· Exercise does not increase the appetite - in fact, the very opposite is true.
(=used to add more emphasis) One day I want to have a horse of my very own.
One day I want to have a horse of my very own.· She was a very popular teacher.
The building will be replaced, most probably by a modern sports centre. People are, quite properly, proud of their homes.· Your family must be very proud of you.
The book is informative and highly readable.· We very much regret that there will be job losses.
I tried to get him talking, but he wasn’t very responsive.· He is a very rich man.
(=the same person or thing and not a different one – used to emphasize that what you are saying seems surprising) We stood in front of the very same house in which Shakespeare wrote his plays.
We stood in front of the very same house in which Shakespeare wrote his plays.· After her initial difficulties she has made a very satisfactory recovery.
· By this time I was feeling really scared.
(=used to emphasise that a statement or description is true)· The truth is that in a very real sense most families in Britain are not poor.
· We are all deeply shocked by what’s happened.
· I was in a very similar situation not so long ago.
· I came up with a very simple answer to this problem.
the exact spot where the king was executed At that age, kids are highly suggestible. (also eminently suitable formal)· This exercise is very suitable for back pain sufferers.
· Make a list of any words or phrases whose meaning you are not too sure about.
· I would be very surprised if that was the case.
Thank you very much, Brian. Thanks very much for your help. (=even the idea of doing something)· The very thought of going on stage made her feel ill.
The book I wanted was at the very top of the pile.· We live in a very unfair world.
· The Government was deeply unhappy about criticism from the press.
· It’s highly unlikely that he’ll survive.
· This bill is deeply unpopular with the rest of the Republican establishment.
· Gandhi was a most unusual politician.
· an extremely violent attack
· She very much wanted to do the right thing.
He left as a poor, working class boy and returned as a wealthy man.· We were really worried about him during the divorce.
· Something is very wrong.
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE CORPUSADJECTIVE· People could be fooled because these types were very clever strategists, especially when they became bored.· And the people who can play them are very clever indeed.· The child psychologists have gotten very clever.· Work hard at all your reading, you are very clever about it.· If they go in and it turns out not to be very clever, the referendum covers their backs.· It was all very clever, really, because all the wedding presents had just more or less run out.· I assured her that I was laughing because I was happy to be with them and because the story-teller was very clever.
· You do business with my daddy, you're very close to him in that way.· Healing with a launch failure A failure very close to the ground frequently results in damage.· She provides her own examples of sudden changes in behaviour, some of which are very close to Pope's characters.· Rod himself admits that he's been very close to arrest.· He looked as if he'd taken both barrels into his chest at very close range.· He and the other Officers must have been very close to the shell burst!· More recently, philosophy has had very close links with mathematics and artificial intelligence.
· They have false floors, so beware, it is very dangerous to climb down into them!· The soldiers were both terrified and amused at this very dangerous snake wriggling around, and eventually, they dispatched it.· The Ford driver was furious and trying to regain his place, a very dangerous manoeuvre.· She laughed and said that, yes, it was very dangerous but what to do?· Evasion of this kind, though most understandable because of the hurt at the root of things, is potentially very dangerous.· The thing is, left in the wrong hands, truth can be very, very dangerous.· They were once thought to be very dangerous indeed and believed to steal infants for the Devil to torment in Hell.· Dangerous discussion Your magazine is potentially very dangerous.
· The interplay of these very different personalities with Beckett's mercurial temperament results in fascinating and varied music.· In the midst of her momentary relief, she knows everything is very different.· Not only do they taste different, but they are very different in their performance when it comes to washing.· Sexy as hell, actually, each in a very different way, although equally vivid.· For what followed was very different.· Geographically distant sites are characterized by very different faunas.· Phonic, phonetic Sometimes these words are used interchangeably, but they have very different meanings.· First, he had to commit to some very different budgeting and spending habits.
· This part of the Act has been strongly criticized and to some extent misused for a minority of very difficult cases.· It was very difficult to move him.· This patination is very difficult to induce artificially.· It is very difficult to see why two adjacent planets should accrete such radically different materials.· They are both fit and active but I find it very difficult to keep their weight up.· It's a deceptively simple idea that's very difficult to put into practice.· He said he'd done a wonderful job in very difficult circumstances.· Again, without this design for integration it will be very difficult to achieve the expected gains of databases and information systems.
· Adults won't get very far in trying to help some one unless they find out what their reasons are.· Generally speaking, people did not move very far.· But comparison with the press can not go very far.· Behaviour is very far from being disorderly.· So far these are very far from being boom times.· But their accumulation is very far from the complicated truth.· He had not got very far with Pilger's list.
· He was very funny in it.· I think all this is very funny.· His character sketches of the principal players are sharp, perceptive and often very funny.· For children, the idea of men dressing up as women and vice versa is very funny.· Singer can, after all, be very funny.· He isn't a very funny man.
· The very best product to smooth the cuticle and help mend the split ends is Pure Gloss.· But beneath that unpromising cover is some very good reading.· There's also a very good children's clothes shop nearby which deals in second-hand baby equipment.· Nor were they very good weapons.· And for very good if slightly mean-spirited reasons.· Mr. David Howell I am sure that that is a very good definition.· Mr. Clark My hon. Friend makes a very good point.· So do I. There are two very good courts here.
· Whilst being very happy in a secretarial role I would like to widen my scope.· I was very happy in a professional sense, and I found community life as sustaining as community life can be.· We would like to take this opportunity to say thank you and wish her a very happy retirement.· We were very happy in our little hotel room.· I've been very happy with my little Cathy.· We were very happy that things were coming back and getting better.· Male speaker I was delighted, very happy.· Carbed to the max, we were very happy with our choices.
· It was true that it was very hard to work in the public baths.· Or they work very hard and watch their children and wait for their men.· In all of this Boy was trying very hard, so very hard that it was touching to watch.· As a result of this, she had a very hard time giving birth, and I was blue.· The other metal used for anti-tank rounds is tungsten, which is also very hard and dense.· Parenting is romantic and fun, but it is also very hard work.· Subcultural ownership of music is very hard to protect.· We tried very hard to get him out of here.
· But comfort is vital - so avoid very tight waistbands, very high collars or shoes which pinch.· In fact, the morale of the crew was very high, if morale was the right word.· To read in such a small bar code successfully requires a very high degree of resolution.· If the possible reward is very high, I would put money into a business that could fail. 4.· The Bank does not provide assistance and interest rates could rise very high indeed.· It has a very high viscosity which requires that it be raised to about 250-F to pump and spray into the furnace.· This rapid transmission of pictorial output demands very high speed links.· Sara, a woman in her late forties, had achieved a very high position in public relations.
· Drawbacks: The exterior walls get very hot during combination cooking.· And taking a bath in very hot water after you drink it.· She noticed that it was getting very hot all of a sudden.· Pequin: A family of small chilies, yellow to orange in color, that are very hot.· The spectral types were given letters of the alphabet, as follows: O: very hot stars, greenish-white or bluish-white.· It was very hot and the house was still.· When we woke on the Friday it was very hot.· When done and still very hot, place half a marshmallow on each cookie.
· However, it is a very important issue whose educational implications require considerable deliberation.· This is quite true, given the existence of some very important necessary conditions.· When describing the person in question, a reference to physical appearance is often made showing that physical appearance is very important.· This analysis is very important since the bodies of the incorruptibles have been erroneously classified by many as natural mummies.· The professors realized that I was doing very important work, and so they gave me my own laboratory.· However, if this type of phenomenon is not very important, then our hypothesis remains valid.· For most of the time he combined this with the very important post of deputy treasurer-at-wars.· You have become very important to me, Mistah Wilson.
· In general, consecutive spill should be considered for low packing densities and/or very large bucket sizes.· The worker must straddle and stretch across the distances, often very large distances.· But aren't we going to need a very large toothbrush.· It seems most likely, in fact, that primitive life arose and was destroyed several times over by very large impacts.· A very large proportion had been there before and would be there again.· Picture your garden bed of cucumbers, a very large patch of them, a bumper crop.· There are many markets where the cost of entry is very large.· It had the proportions of a very large grand hotel such as the Plaza-very bulky and very low.
· Some of the houses were very likely in poor condition.· In order that Compacts eventually do become self financing it is very likely that employers will be asked to contribute to central costs.· Absorption from such sites is very likely to be erratic, leading to poorly controlled diabetes and possibly unexplained hypoglycaemia.· Tina would very likely laugh and clap or even stroke the bear.· I was only on the waiting list anyway and it wasn't very likely that four people would drop out.· Indeed, it is very likely that the process varies with the relationship between the carer and dependant.· At the time Sinha thought it wasn't very likely and forgot about it.· It wasn't very likely that he was going to want to get involved again, was it?
· There was also very little demand for help on legal matters and employment issues.· And Frye had very little confidence in his ability to transform attitudes.· The island is beginning to see an increase in foreign visitors, but as yet very little development has taken place.· Handling the raft required very little attention.· Well, we have very little choice, in my opinion.· At that point there was very little construction going on on the site.· He knew very little about tests done on blood from bones, only that they could be carried out.· At the moment, very little indeed.
· Clearly this is consistent both with a period of about a day and with a very long period.· His music will continue to be performed for a very long time.· It was a long shot, very long.· Our Social Security system has already attached a very long string to generations of children for support of their parents' generation.· The arms are very long, greater than seven times the disk diameter.· There was only one day, wasn't there, or did they have days here but they were just very long?· They were enjoying themselves immensely; the lines were all very long, and it was cool in the post office.
· A small part of law work, and that of a very low status, is concerned with the working class.· Piot said the commitment to very low drug prices is only one step in a complex process.· The extremes of a statistical distribution represent unpredictably rare individual events, which have very low values of statistical probability.· I am a fan of index funds, especially because their management fees tend to be very low.· However, these are for the most part of very low quality and certainly can not meet the needs of the poorest sectors.· We had been fighting hard that day, and all of us were very low on ammunition.· Wages were pitiful and despite recovering somewhat in certain sectors in the last years before the war, they remained very low.· Rural counties such as Gwynedd suffer particularly since they often have very low density settlements, rugged terrain and relatively poor roads.
· He looked very nice in it and he did win the contest, so Ken did know what he was doing.· Catera is a very nice package.· I shall vote Tory because Mr Major is a very, very nice man.· This kid had, at fifteen, two girlfriends, four children, a Mercedes-Benz, and some very nice clothes.· You know, Meatloaf has a very nice pair.· But yes, it is a very nice model.· They say the beach down there is very nice.
· A Yellow Tangs are very popular aquarium fish and many hobbyists try to keep them in shoals.· Instead, you were supposed to leave food for him, which should make his job very popular.· These are very popular with people gathering from towns and villages from miles around.· It was very popular at the time.· Today the railway attracts many tourists to the area, and is very popular with ramblers.· It seems to be a very popular material.· A very popular day excursion is to the Isles of Scilly, either by helicopter or ferry.· This modern 3 star hotel has proved very popular with our guests and is well recommended.
· My involvement with separatism lasted five years, but in a very real sense it will never leave me.· What parents do not realize is that they are a very real presence in any school.· In a very real sense, though not the sense they were expecting, the kingdom had come in power.· In fact, both practically and philosophically our reality often turns out not to be very real.· It was basic, primitive and very, very real.· In a very real sense, payment of dividends represents a choice between future capital gains and current cash payments.· In our desire to become the architects of our own evolution, we risk the very real possibility of losing our humanity.· That relationship is very real and very strong.
· In certain cases the law imposes very short time limits within which you must act.· It is a typical aquatic plant with a very short rhizome; stems are very thin, rooting or floating in water.· Everybody was surprised to see Anne with very short hair, but no one learned the secret.· It lasted a very short time.· At church the Vicar, Mr Nicolson, preached only a very short sermon.· The plants have a very short, branching stem.· The first is very short duration, maximum output attacks.· The third isotope of hydrogen, hydrogen-3 or tritium, is highly radioactive and has a very short half-life.
· All Silver punchcard machines are very similar.· Three small NEAs have spectra very similar to those of basaltic achondrites and of the asteroid Vesta.· This is very similar to the probit findings.· At first a very similar system seemed to apply to monkeys and apes.· At Hales Nurseries near Bournemouth, which took in over fifty children, conditions were very similar to those at Bydown.· Subject coverage of all volumes is very similar and publication is on an annual or biennial basis.· There is a rare Brittany breed which is very similar to the Guernsey and possibly formed the ancestral stock.· Dzerzhinsky frequently thought of the railway network in very similar terms.
· A modern multi-storey office block is a very simple design.· Such knowledge can be very simple, and all the more pertinent for that.· In his opinion, while the Smalltalk syntax is very simple, its simplicity obscures simple programming tasks.· In sum, hypertext is a very simple concept based on the association of nodes through links.· Even as this problem forms itself in my head it is superseded by its very simple and obvious solution.· A few processing elements by themselves do very simple tasks.
· It was a very small company - only 23 employees - and my brother Neil was already working there.· The pilot sat behind the gunner, offering a very small forward profile.· In 1988 it allowed thirteen very small parties to secure 41 of the Knesset's 120 seats.· And our chances are very small.· The number of suppliers doing really substantial amounts of business with libraries is very small.· It was a very small explosion, but it reverberated loudly and quickly across Washington.· It sounds very small in relation to the costs of war, but so do most budgets.· At the Mondrian, newest of the designer hotels by Philippe Starck, guests are made to feel very small.
· We will be making a very strong plea to them.· It has to be very strong, because real estate can go unoccupied for a period of time.· Penguin's strength is of course in its enormous bookshop area, and it is very strong in my High-flyer league.· That relationship is very real and very strong.· The Bookman didn't look very strong.· Patient response to the program was very strong and positive, and the program continued very successfully for two years.· She wasn't young but she was very strong.· I had some very strong experiences there, which I also find hard to talk about.
· The method has nevertheless proved very useful.· The tone scale is very useful and is a good guide.· They clearly did not see it as very useful to them.· Thornton had good contacts as well, and proved very useful in arranging meetings.· Conciliation officers are very useful for advising employers of the tasks before them at a tribunal hearing.· A reputation for being exclusive is not very useful in a market where success depends on recruiting large numbers.· But whatever his motives, he soon realized that he had tapped a very useful vein of information in Ted Morgan.· The developing audio technology to position a sound in three-dimensional space will become very useful.
· Such vision is an unusual attribute, but one which the artist maintains has been with him since a very young age.· We are still the caregivers of the very young and the very old.· It's a very young role and she has to lead the gypsy dance routine.· In most states, courts hold that very young children are incapable of contributory negligence.· All the girls were skilled at farm work, work they had done since they were very young.· They were tough, highly trained volunteers in the Airborne, but some looked very young to me.· While children were very young it was possible to muddle through.· The easiest way to ensure this was to choose a very young woman, still in her teens.
PHRASES FROM THE ENTRY► your very ownPHRASES FROM OTHER ENTRIES► I don’t feel too hot/so hot/very hot► not very savoury/none too savoury► just the thing/the very thing► can’t very well (do something)► it’s/that’s all very well, but ...
1[+adjective/adverb] used to emphasize an adjective, adverb, or phrase: - Very well, you can go to Emily's house, but be back by 7 p.m.
- All three are very well represented as sediments, shelly fossils and trace.fossils.
- Gentlemen, you could very well be using this gravel strip as an emergency landing field for huge bombers.
- In the psyche, as we know, such opposites as true and false coexist very well.
- Life in a Mayfair rectory suited her very well and she had private means.
- Nevertheless, it captures the essence of the game very well.
- She decided to rest, having treated enough cases of sunstroke to know very well how easily it was caught.
- The last time they played, Taylor took Michael Irvin man-to-man most of the day and did very well.
- Are you - very happy, fairly happy, not very happy, or not happy at all?
- Governments are not very good at tinkering.
- He says his technique is not very good.
- Most humans are not very good at keeping secrets.
- My breathing was not very good at all.
- Other kids were not very good either, and we all inadvertently inhaled the pool again and again.
- Paul is not very good at pushing it yet.
- Relations with Admiral Boyd of the Joint Chiefs were not very good either.
- It was like Hi De Hi backstage, very much so.
- But as I take my very first step on to the ground she becomes a very different animal.
- Each dancer had to assume the actions of a different animal.
- I was a Territorial, a very different animal.
- My second example, although involving a very different animal, raises the same kind of questions.
- So in Utah now, Rivendell is really a different animal.
- You should repeat each test at least ten times using a different animal of the same kind for each test.
- Get them by blasting the goose-neck helicopter that assembles itself before your very eyes!
- He hadn't even touched her, yet she was in severe danger of coming unglued before his very eyes.
- He unzipped his fly and peed before their very eyes.
- It isn't even about having him perform them for us before our very eyes, on demand.
- Michael plans to prepare complete meals before your very eyes.
- One hundred and fifty years of glamour sitting on a stool right before your very eyes, that's what she was.
- The pounds, shillings and pence were dancing before her very eyes.
- The relationship was doomed to failure from the first.
- Although the data from the first study are still being analysed, initial results are promising.
- By 1990, only Sir Geoffrey Howe survived from the first cabinet.
- His watch, his ring, his money and his suitcase neatly packed had all been sent from the first hotel.
- Research and design skills can be electronically brought in from the first world.
- The follow up study was restricted to participants from the first study who were 25 to 74 years of age at baseline.
- The main concern over the century was to shift as much as possible from the first to the second form.
- The second word is the noun formed from the first word, the verb.
- This performance needed more pace, a lighter touch throughout from the orchestra and much greater clarity from the first violins.
- Oh, that's very funny. I know you're in there.
- Very funny! Who hid my car keys?
- He did, of course benefit from having a very good defence.
- He had a very good sense of who he is.
- Herta continues to be very good, or at least very silent, about my impotence.
- In my heart I was fiercely competitive: I wanted to be the very best at anything I cared about.
- It would have to be the very best, and by a healthy margin.
- No one is very bad, but no one is very good.
- The very best numbers were numbers like 20, 23, 30, 40, 57, 75, 105 and 155.
- All she had was the image of a woman lying on the ground and people desperate to help her.
- And just lagging it slightly was the image of the posed dancer.
- But we both agreed the little mite was the spitting image of the man.
- It was the image of returning once again to her empty maisonette in Ealing.
- My favorite is the image of an aproned cook in the rear of the open kitchen.
- Pressing upon the rest of us is the image of all those dormant scars in the crust potentially surging to life.
- This is the image of a successful couple.
- Throughout the show's history, for instance, Cleese was the very image of pompous, impatient rectitude.
- But, at the very least, we want to be cut in on the deal.
- Each tier was held in place by tiny press studs which sprang apart at the least pressure.
- He threw noisy tantrums at the least provocation.
- I suppose I had expected anger, an outburst of violence, at the very least surprise and furious disbelief.
- I was sure, at the very least, that diet does had done thousands of women like me no good.
- Obviously, organic does signify better, or at the least an improvement, but the buyer must beware.
- People's lives could be at stake, or at the very least their futures.
- That there should be, at the least, periodic review.
- At the same time, more IBMers were encouraged to look at the outside via secondments or community links.
- From a three-hour flight, at the outside, when he'd only flown from London to Helsinki on the last lap?
- George is tall, red-haired, freckled, with deep squint lines at the outside corners of his blue eyes.
- I settled myself at the outside table and sipped my coffee, trying to get my bearings.
- Look at the outside and don't be fooled by appearances.
- Looking at the outside of this building.
- Picasso aimed his passion at the outside world.
- The second turning starts at the outside edge turning the whole field including the double row towards the hedgerow.
- But such philosophical dissent, at this point, is the stuff of dreams in a dreamworld.
- How does a political system handle the incredibly difficult and complicated value allocations that are the stuff of politics?
- Our ideas and hopes for the future are the stuff of life.
- This was the stuff of life.
- Within this realm the stuff of dreams and nightmares can coalesce from the very air.
- All three are very well represented as sediments, shelly fossils and trace.fossils.
- Gentlemen, you could very well be using this gravel strip as an emergency landing field for huge bombers.
- In the psyche, as we know, such opposites as true and false coexist very well.
- It was all very well to be indignant, but she had driven him away.
- Life in a Mayfair rectory suited her very well and she had private means.
- Nevertheless, it captures the essence of the game very well.
- She decided to rest, having treated enough cases of sunstroke to know very well how easily it was caught.
- The last time they played, Taylor took Michael Irvin man-to-man most of the day and did very well.
It feels very cold today. The fishing industry is very important to the area. The traffic’s moving very slowly this morning. problems that are very similar to mine I feel a lot better – thank you very much. I’m very, very (=used for emphasis) pleased you can come. It’s very kind of you to help. My sister and I were married on the very same (=exactly the same) day.the very best/latest/worst etc We only use the very best ingredients.2not very good/happy/far etc not good etc at all: I’m just not very good at spelling. The garden’s not very big, is it? The assistant wasn’t very helpful. ‘Was the talk interesting?’ ‘Not very (=only slightly).’3your very own used to emphasize the fact that something belongs to one particular person and to no one else: She was thrilled at the idea of having her very own toys to play with.of your very own At last, she had a home of her very own.4informal used with adjectives to say that the quality something has is very noticeable or typical: It was a very male reaction, I thought. His films are always very French.5very much so spoken used to emphasize your agreement or approval: ‘Are you serious?’ ‘Very much so.’6very well old-fashioned spoken used to agree to somethingGRAMMAR: Adjectives that already mean ‘very’Some adjectives already mean ‘very’, for example terrible (=very bad), wonderful (=very good), or hilarious (=very funny). Don’t use ‘very’ with these adjectives. Use really or absolutely instead. You say: · It was a really terrible experience.· I feel absolutely great. ✗Don’t say: It was a very terrible experience. | I feel very great.Grammar guide ‒ ADJECTIVESGRAMMAR: Comparisonvery• You use very with adjectives and adverbs: · She is very happy.· The train was moving very slowly.very much• You use very much with the comparative form of adjectives: · She is very much happier now.· I feel very much better.• You use very much with verbs: · He very much regrets what happened.· Thank you very much.• You use very much with prepositional phrases: · The company’s future is very much in doubt.· She was very much in demand as a speaker.very1 adverbvery2 adjective
veryvery2 ●●○ S3 W3 adjective [only before noun] WORD ORIGINvery2
Origin:
1200-1300 Old French verai, from Latin verax ‘truthful’, from verus ‘true’EXAMPLES FROM THE CORPUS
- I must have known that those were the very advantages I had been denying myself in denying myself food.
- It was this very vision that drew him to a man with whom he had so little in common besides.
- One day we may meet that villain, or the many like him, and have to fight for our very lives.
- One photograph was of a very beautiful man.
- Sandison bought a very fine pale grey hat with a wide, flat brim and a white hatband.
- These were the very qualities required in the political arena.
- This is a very straight forward part and shouldn't present any problems.
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE ENTRYnouns a highly accomplished designer Lucy is quite clever and does well at school. She’s a highly competent linguist. Mental illness is a very complicated subject. It was a highly dangerous situation. Our sons are very different from each other. He was the very epitome of evil. She seems the very essence of kindness (=she seems very kind). There are only a very few (=not many) exceptions. Alice was deeply hurt that she hadn’t been invited. She likes Biology, but she’s not too keen on Physics. My experience is very much like that described in the book. He’s very like his brother. She’s a lovely girl and I like her very much. I’d very likely have done the same thing in your situation. There’s very little money left. The situation has improved very little. He’s very loving and affectionate with his sister. The boy looked nine at the very most (=he was probably younger). Bayman’s book about his illness is deeply moving. I’m feeling very much better, thank you. Thank you very much! The house was very much as I’d remembered it. Capitalist society is by its very nature unstable. He very nearly died. The food is not very good there. We only see each other very occasionally (=rarely). I quite often go to Paris on business. Very often children who behave badly at school have problems at home. The building will be replaced, most probably by a modern sports centre. People are, quite properly, proud of their homes. The book is informative and highly readable. I tried to get him talking, but he wasn’t very responsive. the exact spot where the king was executed At that age, kids are highly suggestible. Thank you very much, Brian. Thanks very much for your help. The book I wanted was at the very top of the pile. He left as a poor, working class boy and returned as a wealthy man.
· To the very end of his life he remained a controversial figure.
· It is clear from the very beginning of the play that he is a weak and unpopular ruler.
· The hotel is located in the very heart of the city.
· The very fact that this is their second home means that they are well-off.
· At that very moment, the doorbell rang.
· How can he say that it's wrong, and then go and do that very thing himself?
· As a travel writer, the very nature of his job meant that he travelled a lot.
· If the new project fails, it could threaten the very existence of the company.
(=just an idea or suggestion)· The very idea of acting on stage scares the pants off me.
· I want everyone to be able to cook my recipes, so for that very reason I chose inexperienced cooks to test them.
COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES a highly accomplished designer (=used for emphasis)· He had been lying to me from the very beginning.
· He’s one of the very best players around.
Lucy is quite clever and does well at school. She’s a highly competent linguist. Mental illness is a very complicated subject. It was a highly dangerous situation. Our sons are very different from each other. He was the very epitome of evil. She seems the very essence of kindness (=she seems very kind).· The university's very existence is at stake.
· We ate at a very expensive restaurant.
There are only a very few (=not many) exceptions. (=they have problems with their hearing) Old Zeke doesn’t hear too well anymore.
Old Zeke doesn’t hear too well anymore. informal (=not very good) Some of the tracks on the record are great, but others are not so hot.
Some of the tracks on the record are great, but others are not so hot. Alice was deeply hurt that she hadn’t been invited. She likes Biology, but she’s not too keen on Physics. (=not less than and probably much more than) It would cost $1 million at the very least.
It would cost $1 million at the very least. My experience is very much like that described in the book. He’s very like his brother. She’s a lovely girl and I like her very much.· It did not seem very likely that he was still alive.
I’d very likely have done the same thing in your situation. There’s very little money left. The situation has improved very little.· They were obviously very much in love.
He’s very loving and affectionate with his sister. (=a very large number) Most of the young men went off to the war, and a great many never came back. It all happened a good many years ago.
Most of the young men went off to the war, and a great many never came back. It all happened a good many years ago. (=used for emphasizing that something happened at a particular time)· I could tell something was wrong from the very moment I walked in through the front door.
The boy looked nine at the very most (=he was probably younger). Bayman’s book about his illness is deeply moving. I’m feeling very much better, thank you. Thank you very much! The house was very much as I’d remembered it. Capitalist society is by its very nature unstable. He very nearly died. The food is not very good there. We only see each other very occasionally (=rarely). I quite often go to Paris on business. Very often children who behave badly at school have problems at home. (=exactly the opposite)· Exercise does not increase the appetite - in fact, the very opposite is true.
(=used to add more emphasis) One day I want to have a horse of my very own.
One day I want to have a horse of my very own.· She was a very popular teacher.
The building will be replaced, most probably by a modern sports centre. People are, quite properly, proud of their homes.· Your family must be very proud of you.
The book is informative and highly readable.· We very much regret that there will be job losses.
I tried to get him talking, but he wasn’t very responsive.· He is a very rich man.
(=the same person or thing and not a different one – used to emphasize that what you are saying seems surprising) We stood in front of the very same house in which Shakespeare wrote his plays.
We stood in front of the very same house in which Shakespeare wrote his plays.· After her initial difficulties she has made a very satisfactory recovery.
· By this time I was feeling really scared.
(=used to emphasise that a statement or description is true)· The truth is that in a very real sense most families in Britain are not poor.
· We are all deeply shocked by what’s happened.
· I was in a very similar situation not so long ago.
· I came up with a very simple answer to this problem.
the exact spot where the king was executed At that age, kids are highly suggestible. (also eminently suitable formal)· This exercise is very suitable for back pain sufferers.
· Make a list of any words or phrases whose meaning you are not too sure about.
· I would be very surprised if that was the case.
Thank you very much, Brian. Thanks very much for your help. (=even the idea of doing something)· The very thought of going on stage made her feel ill.
The book I wanted was at the very top of the pile.· We live in a very unfair world.
· The Government was deeply unhappy about criticism from the press.
· It’s highly unlikely that he’ll survive.
· This bill is deeply unpopular with the rest of the Republican establishment.
· Gandhi was a most unusual politician.
· an extremely violent attack
· She very much wanted to do the right thing.
He left as a poor, working class boy and returned as a wealthy man.· We were really worried about him during the divorce.
· Something is very wrong.
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE CORPUSNOUN· He was a strong and greedy monarch who pursued a course of military aggrandisement from the very beginning of his reign.· This time she started to interrogate me from the very beginning.· They are born into a nexus of interactions and relationships that shape the expression of their own needs from the very beginning.· This had been on the cards from the very beginning.· What was there in the very beginning?· All of a sudden they realised they had been tricked from the very beginning.· I opposed it from the very beginning.
· How different Oxford was from Nebraska ... Oxford, the very centre of intellectual life.· In the very centre of the village, close to the church, was the blacksmith's forge.· Indeed it had and the Nonconformist minister stood at the very centre of the Nonconformist world we are discussing.· But I can find my way to the very centre of it.· The infrared picture is at 10 times the scale of the optical photograph, showing only the very centre of the galaxy.· As for myself, she was the very centre of my life.· The ark of the covenant At the very centre of this whole divinely-dictated religion was the ark.
· And the Vatican has held the secret to this very day.· The previous autumn, the muggy monsoon heat had begun to diminish on the very day following the festival of Dusshera.· I can remember their faces clearly to this very day.· She would do her job - and do it well right until the very day when she left the company.· Suddenly there was a flurry of activity, their bags were packed hurriedly and they were to leave that very day.· I remember the very day she met Mr Hawker, here in Manchester - don't you, Pru?
· He sat down again on the very edge of the chair and they drank the tea in silence.· At their very edges the sea encroaches far in at roughly twelve and a half hour intervals, and then retreats.· They plunged over the very edge of the human capacity to feel.· The monastery has a beautiful situation, on the very edge of the river Olt in fine mountain country.· Loretta perched herself uncomfortably on the very edge of the jacket.· But equally you can create suspense out of going to the very edge.· She glanced down, to discover she was hugging the very edge of the mattress.
· Yet Hassan was at the very end of his patience.· My particular concern is the very ends of the fingers - or, the nails.· He told her so at the very end.· The village church, tucked away at the very end of a winding leafy lane, is dedicated to St Mary.
· Atheism for Marxism is not an optional extra or a mere facet but the very essence of it.· These distortions are the very essence of prejudice, and it is hardly surprising that conflict with Peter had arisen.· Wars were the very essence of the Roman organization.· In Richard, she had the very essence of his father.· The second assumption is the very essence of self development.· It is, indeed, politically more difficult for it threatens the very essence of capitalism.· Yet movement is the very essence of being human and of the human condition which policing sets out to nullify.· Plato argued that to know yourself was the very essence of knowledge.
· He also recognises that in a free society values may develop which are alien to its very existence.· First, there is the obvious point that the very existence of private legislation procedure may not necessarily be recognised.· Its birthday - its very existence - is being celebrated in a new book by Susan Basnett.· So, for example, the very existence of a product range is, in itself, a selling point for a product.· Instead of cooperation we have a destructive form of conflict in a social system whose very existence depends on cooperation.· Feeling conspicuous - embarrassed about my very existence but resentful of what had happened.· If it were to do so, the very existence of the currency union would be placed in jeopardy.
· It wasn't that I was tempted to eat those convenient nuts, just the very fact of their existence.· But that very fact requires a conventionalist to find a more complex political justification than the one I just described.· Research indicates that behaviour may be altered by the very fact that it is being monitored.· Yet the very fact of taking action was undoubtedly a source of inspiration.· The very fact of suggesting things to people tends to result in inaccuracies.· Two particulars simultaneously occupying two different places are in virtue of this very fact two different particulars.· One respects the authority which is founded on the very fact of being so respected.
· How much to vary the product according to the market was a problem which hit at the very heart of the business.· The very heart of Marx's analysis of capitalism therefore rests on the simple but powerful concept that profit is robbery.· Data integration is especially a problem for geographers because information synthesis is at the very heart of the discipline.· Fifteen acres of rich, tropical gardens in the very heart of the city.· It is because this garret is at the very heart of Government.· And here, where we are walking right now, was the very heart of their financial empire.· At the very heart of single capacity was the Stock Exchange's rule-book which effectively blocked significant structural reform.· A home is the very heart of life.
· Indeed, for many the very idea of attaining a political focus has been discarded in favour of a celebration of fragmentation.· The very idea of taking drugs disgusted me.· He rejects, it is true, the very idea of consistency in principle as important for its own sake.· But what of the very idea of advertising in a public service system?· I was terrified out of my wits at the very idea.· The very idea is preposterous and I was overjoyed to see that you believed me.· Yet the very idea was gross and implausible.· The very idea of working from home should have been anathema to me.
· Yet this was very life itself.· One day we may meet that villain, or the many like him, and have to fight for our very lives.· Their very lives would have to be at stake first.· I played as if my very life depended upon it.· His very life might depend on it.· The fight - the very life! - went out of me.· The future - the very lives - of these children depend on our ability to reach them with vaccines and health education.· In that moment, he had known he could trust her - with his very life, as it were.
· She would have stayed asleep, too, if not for the outrageous racket that erupted outside at that very moment.· They were wondering where she was at that very moment.· She knew the offers would disappear again the very moment she tried to take them up.· This was seen at the very moment of James V's death.· Elizabeth played one of her characteristically tantalizing games, and kept him waiting until the very moment of her death.· Strange that David should be coming along at that very moment that she'd emerged on to the main road.
· Because of the very nature of desktop publishing this should come as no surprise.· As pointed out above regarding the verbs of perception, nevertheless, the passive is by its very nature resultative.· It goes against the very nature of man today.· By their very nature a complete beginner will find some of the drills rather difficult.· The very nature of their mouths says so. paradoxically, however, surface feeding is part of their nature too.· Personal computers like the Apple are by their very nature easy to learn to use and simple to operate.· By the very nature of the case, the demands of commercial secrecy, this is difficult to research.· He maintained that by its very nature, capitalism involves the exploitation and oppression of the worker.
· Controversy, intrigue, the literary spilling of blood is the very stuff of the Guitarist letters page.· This is the very stuff of college life.· Parades are the very stuff of Protestant politics.· We have looked upon it almost as convertible with thought, of which we have called it the very stuff and process.· What are these other than the very stuff of economic development?
· There was an outcry against Hollywood, the very thing Hays and Zukor had tried to avoid.· To be jealous implied an involvement, a relationship, the very things she was fighting against.· This conversation was getting too intimate - the very thing she wanted to avoid.· He then does just that very thing himself!· Tonight he must face the very thing he had always dreaded.· The very thing they had been screaming about for donkeys years.· The movement exposed the very thing she had come expecting to find: a large jute bag.· So he divides men by language barriers, and scatters them abroad - the very thing they were trying to insure against.
· My throat hurts again at the very thought!· I was paralysed with fear at the very thought of making eye contact with them, let alone playing the teacher.· The very thought stiffened her body in his arms and she all but scowled at him.· The very thought left him feeling as if there was a great pit where his stomach should be.· Others hate the very thought of them.· Mrs Carrow would have one of those panic attacks at the very thought.· Sometimes the very thought made him feel strangely out of place in the swinging sixties.· The very thought made him feel warm inside.
· The very word imperialism is modern.· The very word filled the nation with fear.· The very word, whether used as noun or as a verb, is dismissive.· Little Pete and Ellie who used to hang on the very words of Uncle John.· Words like coward, stupid or effeminate should probably never be used unless the client has used that very word himself.· The very word seven or seventh occurs twice seven times in the passage.· Perhaps your very words are what must represent us to posterity.· In logic when you have a problem, the very words of the puzzle contain the answer.
PHRASES FROM OTHER ENTRIES► I don’t feel too hot/so hot/very hot► not very savoury/none too savoury► just the thing/the very thing► can’t very well (do something)► it’s/that’s all very well, but ...
used to emphasize that you are talking exactly about one particular thing or person: - But as I take my very first step on to the ground she becomes a very different animal.
- Each dancer had to assume the actions of a different animal.
- I was a Territorial, a very different animal.
- My second example, although involving a very different animal, raises the same kind of questions.
- So in Utah now, Rivendell is really a different animal.
- You should repeat each test at least ten times using a different animal of the same kind for each test.
- Get them by blasting the goose-neck helicopter that assembles itself before your very eyes!
- He hadn't even touched her, yet she was in severe danger of coming unglued before his very eyes.
- He unzipped his fly and peed before their very eyes.
- It isn't even about having him perform them for us before our very eyes, on demand.
- Michael plans to prepare complete meals before your very eyes.
- One hundred and fifty years of glamour sitting on a stool right before your very eyes, that's what she was.
- The pounds, shillings and pence were dancing before her very eyes.
- The relationship was doomed to failure from the first.
- Although the data from the first study are still being analysed, initial results are promising.
- By 1990, only Sir Geoffrey Howe survived from the first cabinet.
- His watch, his ring, his money and his suitcase neatly packed had all been sent from the first hotel.
- Research and design skills can be electronically brought in from the first world.
- The follow up study was restricted to participants from the first study who were 25 to 74 years of age at baseline.
- The main concern over the century was to shift as much as possible from the first to the second form.
- The second word is the noun formed from the first word, the verb.
- This performance needed more pace, a lighter touch throughout from the orchestra and much greater clarity from the first violins.
- Oh, that's very funny. I know you're in there.
- Very funny! Who hid my car keys?
- He did, of course benefit from having a very good defence.
- He had a very good sense of who he is.
- Herta continues to be very good, or at least very silent, about my impotence.
- In my heart I was fiercely competitive: I wanted to be the very best at anything I cared about.
- It would have to be the very best, and by a healthy margin.
- No one is very bad, but no one is very good.
- The very best numbers were numbers like 20, 23, 30, 40, 57, 75, 105 and 155.
- All she had was the image of a woman lying on the ground and people desperate to help her.
- And just lagging it slightly was the image of the posed dancer.
- But we both agreed the little mite was the spitting image of the man.
- It was the image of returning once again to her empty maisonette in Ealing.
- My favorite is the image of an aproned cook in the rear of the open kitchen.
- Pressing upon the rest of us is the image of all those dormant scars in the crust potentially surging to life.
- This is the image of a successful couple.
- Throughout the show's history, for instance, Cleese was the very image of pompous, impatient rectitude.
- But, at the very least, we want to be cut in on the deal.
- Each tier was held in place by tiny press studs which sprang apart at the least pressure.
- He threw noisy tantrums at the least provocation.
- I suppose I had expected anger, an outburst of violence, at the very least surprise and furious disbelief.
- I was sure, at the very least, that diet does had done thousands of women like me no good.
- Obviously, organic does signify better, or at the least an improvement, but the buyer must beware.
- People's lives could be at stake, or at the very least their futures.
- That there should be, at the least, periodic review.
- At the same time, more IBMers were encouraged to look at the outside via secondments or community links.
- From a three-hour flight, at the outside, when he'd only flown from London to Helsinki on the last lap?
- George is tall, red-haired, freckled, with deep squint lines at the outside corners of his blue eyes.
- I settled myself at the outside table and sipped my coffee, trying to get my bearings.
- Look at the outside and don't be fooled by appearances.
- Looking at the outside of this building.
- Picasso aimed his passion at the outside world.
- The second turning starts at the outside edge turning the whole field including the double row towards the hedgerow.
- But such philosophical dissent, at this point, is the stuff of dreams in a dreamworld.
- How does a political system handle the incredibly difficult and complicated value allocations that are the stuff of politics?
- Our ideas and hopes for the future are the stuff of life.
- This was the stuff of life.
- Within this realm the stuff of dreams and nightmares can coalesce from the very air.
- All three are very well represented as sediments, shelly fossils and trace.fossils.
- Gentlemen, you could very well be using this gravel strip as an emergency landing field for huge bombers.
- In the psyche, as we know, such opposites as true and false coexist very well.
- It was all very well to be indignant, but she had driven him away.
- Life in a Mayfair rectory suited her very well and she had private means.
- Nevertheless, it captures the essence of the game very well.
- She decided to rest, having treated enough cases of sunstroke to know very well how easily it was caught.
- The last time they played, Taylor took Michael Irvin man-to-man most of the day and did very well.
He died in this very room. I’ll start at the very beginning. Those were his very words. You’d better start doing some work this very minute (=now, not later). That might provoke a riot, the very thing he was trying to avoid. The very fact that you are reading this book suggests you want to improve your fitness. By its very nature, capitalism involves exploitation of the worker. His life’s work was being destroyed before his very eyes (=directly in front of him).the very thought/idea/mention (of something) (=just thinking about or suggesting something) The very thought of food made me feel ill.COLLOCATIONSnounsthe very end· To the very end of his life he remained a controversial figure.the very beginning· It is clear from the very beginning of the play that he is a weak and unpopular ruler.the very heart of something· The hotel is located in the very heart of the city.the very fact that· The very fact that this is their second home means that they are well-off.the/that/this very moment· At that very moment, the doorbell rang.the/that very thing· How can he say that it's wrong, and then go and do that very thing himself?the very nature/essence of something· As a travel writer, the very nature of his job meant that he travelled a lot.the very existence of something· If the new project fails, it could threaten the very existence of the company.the very idea/thought (=just an idea or suggestion)· The very idea of acting on stage scares the pants off me.this/that very reason· I want everyone to be able to cook my recipes, so for that very reason I chose inexperienced cooks to test them.