Adjective + Noun Collocations List

REF	LEVEL	COLLOCATION	MEANING	EXAMPLE
CO01
CO01		a golden handshake	a payment given to sb who is made redundant	He should be able to spare £3,000 out of his golden handshake.
CO01		a blatant lie	a very obvious and intentional lie	The fact that the state pensions were reduced is a blatant lie.
CO01		an evasive answer	an answer that fails to admit or deny the allegations	All our questions were met with vague, evasive answers.
CO01		an avid reader	someone who reads as much as they can	She misses not having enough books because she's an avid reader.
CO01		a permissive society	a society in which social norms become liberal	In the permissive society of the 1960s anything was possible.
CO01		a terminal illness	any condition expected to end in death	Ann died after a brave but unavailing fight against a terminal illness.
CO01		a breathtaking view	an extremely impressive or beautiful view	The city's most iconic image is its breathtaking view of the river Amu.
CO01		a foregone conclusion	a result that can be predicted with certainty	The result of the election seemed to be a foregone conclusion.
CO01		a staunch supporter	very loyal to a person, organisation	He has been a staunch supporter of the Liberal Party for five years.
CO01		constructive criticism	feedback that is focused on improvement	It's nice to hear constructive criticism from other blog owners.
CO02
CO02		a vicious circle	a continuing unpleasant situation	They observed that a vicious circle is formed when the sea ice melts.
CO02		wishful thinking	the illusion that what you wish for is actually true	Her claims to be a millionaire are just wishful thinking.
CO02		an irresistible temptation	a strong desire that is impossible to control	It proved an irresistible temptation to Martin to go back.
CO02		a working knowledge	enough knowledge of a system, subject, language	A good working knowledge of meteorology is necessary for the job.
CO02		a compulsive liar	someone who lies about everything for no reason	He was a compulsive liar who stole money from me more than once.
CO02		capital punishment	punishment by death, as ordered by a legal system	There are strong arguments for and against capital punishment.
CO02		a resounding success	a great success	The organisers claimed the concert was a resounding success.
CO02		a golden opportunity	an excellent chance to do or get something	Businesses have a golden opportunity to expand into new markets.
CO02		a crushing blow	a major defeat or setback	It would be a crushing blow for a company struggling to find its way.
CO02		a recurrent dream	a dream that you have again and again	A recurrent dream suggests a concern that has yet to be resolved.
CO03
CO03		an unpalatable suggestion	a very unpleasant suggestion	This kind of honesty has always been an unpalatable suggestion.
CO03		formative years	the first few years of a child's life	She exposed her children to music throughout their formative years.
CO03		a burning question	an urgent issue under heated discussion	Real estate taxes are always a burning question for the town leaders.
CO03		illegible handwriting	handwriting that is difficult to read	I've seen people with illegible handwriting become the best in class!
CO03		a forwarding address	the address where you want your mail sent after	Cathy moved house without leaving a forwarding address.
CO03		pristine condition	a state of being like new, perfect condition	The environment at this Atoll was found to be in a pristine condition.
CO03		a redeeming feature	one that counteracts something negative	The car's only redeeming feature was that it was cheap.
CO03		a nodding acquaintance	know a little about a subject but not a lot	I'm afraid I have only a nodding acquaintance with her works.
CO03		an unenviable reputation	a bad reputation	Peru has an unenviable reputation for unsavoury mining practice.
CO03		a prolific writer	a writer that produces a large number of works	She is a prolific writer and has several books to her credit.
CO04
CO04		saving grace	a redeeming quality or characteristic	He may is stupid and mean, but his one saving grace is his humour.
CO04		an unrivalled collection	better or greater than any other collection	The museum boasts an unrivalled collection of Chinese porcelain.
CO04		common knowledge	something known by most people	It is common knowledge that some politicians are receiving bribes.
CO04		a daunting task	a task that is difficult to deal with	Writing a cover letter often seems like a particularly daunting task.
CO04		a downright lie	an utter or complete lie	It was audacious of Susan to tell me a downright lie.
CO04		a passing reference	a light, brief mention of something	She makes only a passing reference to the theory in her book.
CO04		widespread criticism	prevalent or strong criticism	There has been widespread criticism of the handling of the disaster.
CO04		a derelict building	a building that is in a very poor condition	In the middle of town is a derelict building that used to be the shop.
CO04		rampant inflation	rapid and unrestrained price increases	The country has high unemployment and rampant inflation.
CO04		a harrowing experience	an experience that is frightening	They've had a harrowing experience and a lucky escape.
CO05
CO05		extenuating circumstances	the specific reasons that justify sb's actions	She stole the money, but there are extenuating circumstances.
CO05		a besetting sin	a main or constant problem or fault	I doubt she'll listen to you - her lack of patience is her besetting sin.
CO05		a stumbling block	a circumstance that causes difficulty	I doubt she'll listen to you - her lack of patience is her besetting sin.
CO05		sweeping generalization	a statement that is too general and thus not valid	This sweeping generalization is the law of conservation of energy.
CO05		a recurring dream	a dream that you have again and again	In fact, I remember having a recurring dream about the business.
CO05		a deciding factor	the most important reason	Taxes could be the deciding factor for millions of floating voters.
CO05		a breathing space	an opportunity to stop, or think about things	The enemy should be permitted no breathing space.
CO05		a stamping ground	a place where someone regularly spends time	Dublin is my old stamping ground. I was born there, you know.
CO05		a shrinking violet	an exaggeratedly shy person	When it comes to expressing herself she is no shrinking violet.
CO05		excruciating pain	extremely strong pain	He endured excruciating pain in his feet and needed painkillers.
CO06
CO06		a roaring success	a very great success	Her films haven't exactly been a roaring success, have they?
CO06		teething troubles	short-term problems arising in the early stages	Apart from teething troubles no major problems were expected.
CO06		a sitting tenant	a person with a legal right to stay in a property	I can't sell the house because I can't get rid of the sitting tenants.
CO06		a breeding ground	a place where something bad or harmful develops	This area of the city has become a breeding ground for crime.
CO06		a flaming temper	a state of intense anger that inflames the emotions	He's an aggressive player and is known for having a flaming temper.
CO06		a stepping stone	something that helps you get or achieve something	The course will be a stepping stone to another career.
CO06		a whipping boy	a person who is punished for the faults of others	The mechanic became the whipping boy for the pilot's error.
CO06		a standing ovation	a round of applause where people stand up	When Tom walked on stage he was given a standing ovation.
CO06		a crying shame	a very unfortunate situation	It's a crying shame that police have to put up with these attacks.
CO06		a turning point	the time when an important change takes place	His latest novel marks a turning point in his development as a writer.
CO07
CO07		an arboreal animal	an animal that spends most of its life on trees	Monkeys are probably the most loved of all the arboreal animals.
CO07		a belligerent attitude	an aggressive and unfriendly attitude	He displayed a nearly belligerent attitude toward our questions.
CO07		corporal punishment	the physical punishment of people	In 1987, California prohibited corporal punishment in schools.
CO07		an insatiable appetite	always wanting more and never feeling satisfied	People seem to have an insatiable appetite for news of any kind.
CO07		a pernicious effect	having a very harmful effect or influence	The cuts have had a pernicious effect on local health services.
CO07		fraternal love	love that is commonly present within siblings	The story focused on themes of family and fraternal love.
CO07		a pecuniary advantage	financial advantage that is dishonestly obtained	He denies obtaining a pecuniary advantage by deception.
CO07		regal splendour	elegance typical of a king or queen	The palace has been restored to retain its regal splendour.
CO07		a mortal blow	sth very serious that may cause the end of sth	His reputation suffered a mortal blow as a result of the scandal.
CO07		a puerile joke	a silly and stupid joke	His puerile jokes were inappropriate for a serious meeting.
CO08
CO08		a chromatic scale	a musical scale consisting entirely of half steps	Entire compositions are rarely written in the chromatic scale.
CO08		a genealogical tree	a genealogical diagram of a family's ancestry	They constructed a genealogical tree for the unidentified remains.
CO08		ethnic minority	a group of people with a shared culture, tradition	We heard Cham people are muslim, and they are ethnic minority.
CO08		an umbilical cord	a piece of tissue that connects a baby to its mother	He asked the nurse if he could cut his son's umbilical cord.
CO08		bubonic plague	a disease caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis	The Great Plague of 1665 was a major epidemic of bubonic plague.
CO08		psychological warfare	actions intended to reduce an opponent's morale	We have nothing else to resort to apart from psychological warfare.
CO08		vertical take-off	an aircraft's ability to takeoff and land vertically	The craft is a vertical take-off and landing VTOL quadrotor.
CO08		a diacritical mark	a symbol that tells you how to pronounce a letter	This list specifies combinations of a diacritical mark.
CO08		forensic medicine	the applied use of medical knowledge	Clinical forensic medicine belongs to applied medicine science.
CO08		a hypodermic needle	a hollow needle used in medical syringes	Hannah carried hypodermic needles and syringes in her bag.
CO09
CO09		a large amount	a large quantity of something	A large amount of money was squandered by him on gambling.
CO09		a high/low percentage	the number, amount or rate of something	A high percentage of the male staff are part-time workers.
CO09		the vast majority	the greatest part of something	This treatment is not available in the vast majority of hospitals.
CO09		a great number	a large quantity of something	A great number of Egyptians are proficient in foreign languages.
CO10
CO10		heavy traffic	a large amount of traffic	His lateness was due to the very heavy traffic on the motorway.
CO10		instant coffee	a beverage derived from brewed coffee beans	Each bedroom has a kettle, tea bag and packet of instant coffee.
CO10		a chilly reception	an unfriendly reception	He faced a chilly reception after flying to Paris on corporate jets.
CO10		high quality	very good, of a high quality	This product is of high quality and able to compete internationally.
CO10		fair hair	blond hair	He's got long fair hair and a little white face too.
CO10		endangered species	a species that are at risk of extinction	Endangered species need to be kept secure from poachers.
CO10		health insurance	medical insurance	Full-time employees are entitled to receive health insurance.
CO10		a flat tyre	a tyre that does not have any or enough air in it	He lifted the car with a jack to change the flat tyre.
CO10		a main course	the most substantial course of a meal	He took a few spoonfuls of soup but left his main course untouched.
CO10		a distant relative	a relative who is not closely related to you	Nina was his distant relative, as was everyone else on the island.
CO11
CO11		a permanent job	a steady job	Are you looking for a temporary or a permanent job?
CO11		a habitual smoker	a person who smokes a lot of cigarettes	Total dispensation of cigarettes can be difficult for a habitual smoker.
CO11		a valid passport	a passport that is accepted by the system	All people entering the country will need a valid passport.
CO11		a rough diamond	sb who has talent but who is not polite	She seems to have a devil of a temper, but she is a rough diamond.
CO11		a black sheep	sb who does not fit in with the rest of a group	Mark has always been regarded as the black sheep of the family.
CO11		working knowledge	enough knowledge of a system, subject, language	John has a good working knowledge of accounting practices.
CO11		a historic building	an old building	Modernising historic buildings can often do more harm than good.
CO11		flying colours	complete success	I expect my daughter to pass the exam with flying colours.
CO11		artificial intelligence	the simulation of human intelligence processes	He has been called the father of artificial intelligence.
CO11		stale bread	no longer fresh bread	Jim was so hungry that he enjoyed every morsel of the stale bread.
CO34
CO34		as drunk as a lord	extremely drunk	Do you remember last night at all? You were as drunk as a lord!
CO34		as strong as an ox	very strong and powerful	He is as strong as an ox, has great stamina, and has a rock solid chin.
CO34		as poor as a church mouse	extremely short of money	Although very rich in his youth, he is now as poor as a church mouse.
CO34		as hungry as a wolf	be very hungry	After playing outside all day, Tim was as hungry as a wolf.
CO34		as gentle as a lamb	be very kind and calm	He may be as tough as a dinosaur, but he's as gentle as a lamb.
CO34		as pretty as a picture	very attractive or pleasant to look at	Rachel was as pretty as a picture and apparently glowing with health.
CO34		as ugly as sin	extremely or remarkably ugly	Well, this table obviously has to go - it's ugly as sin!
CO34		as safe as houses	completely safe	If she fixes the brakes the car will be as safe as houses.
CO34		as pale as death	extremely pale	The woman with the child on her lap was as pale as death.
CO34		as cheap as dirt	very inexpensive	These strawberries are as cheap as dirt during the summer.
CO35
CO35		as two peas in a pod	very similar, especially in appearance	The two girls looked as alike as two peas in a pod.
CO35		as free as a bird	be free to go anywhere	Now that I've got my divorce, I feel as free as a bird.
CO35		as stubborn as a mule	extremely stubborn	Don't waste words on Alice. She is as stubborn as a mule.
CO35		as wise as an owl	someone who is really smart	I've always thought Grandpa was as wise as an owl.
CO35		as old as the hills	be very old	Everybody knows that story. It's as old as the hills.
CO35		as light as a feather	extremely light	The material is durable and waterproof, but feels as light as a feather.
CO35		as regular as clockwork	be very regular, completely predictable	Tom used to come here every Friday as regular as clockwork.
CO35		as hard as rock	very hard or difficult to penetrate	How am I supposed to knead this dough when it's as hard as a rock?
CO35		as fit as a fiddle	be in very good health	My grandfather is 95 years old, but he is still as fit as a fiddle.
CO35		as clear as crystal	very easy to understand	The sign is right there on the door - it's as clear as crystal.
CO36
CO36		drink like a fish	regularly drink a lot of alcohol	David used to drink like a fish and got drunk all the time.
CO36		eat like a bird	eat very little food	She eats like a bird, no wonder she can keep herself so slim.
CO36		like a bull in a china shop	behaving recklessly and clumsily	He went about the job like a bull in a china shop.
CO36		sleep like a log/baby	sleep well and soundly	She was so tired that she slept like a log all night.
CO36		go/work like a dream	work or go extremely well, without any problems	The engine is almost silent and goes like a dream.
CO36		fit like a glove	be exactly the right size, fit perfectly	Most of her clothes fit like a glove. They fit perfectly.
CO36		swear like a trooper	swear heavily	Steve swore like a trooper when we complained about his work.
CO36		smoke like a chimney	smoke heavily, all the time	My grandfather smoked like a chimney and lived to be 99 years old.
CO36		get on like a house on fire	quickly have a very friendly relationship	Mary and my uncle Jack got on like a house on fire.
CO36		run like the wind	run very quickly	We ran like the wind and only stopped when we reached the river.