Verb + Noun Collocations List

REF	COLLOCATION	MEANING	EXAMPLE
MAKE/DO + NOUN
CO23	do likewise	in the same way or manner	I'm going to bed and you would be well advised to do likewise.
CO23	do yourself an injury	hurt oneself	Don't do that, Robert, you might do yourself an injury.
CO23	do sightseeing	visit interesting places, especially when on holiday	Ann wanted to relax on the beach as well as do some sightseeing.
CO23	do some revision	study again something you have already learned	She knows she hasn't done enough revision for tomorrow's exam.
CO23	do birdwatching	observe birds in their natural habitat	Maps are available for those who'd like to do a little birdwatching.
CO23	do a translation	change words into a different language	Next time, you write the letter, I'll do the translation.
CO23	do time	be in a prison for a period of time	None of us knew that Stephen had done time for robbery.
CO23	do the painting	make a picture using paints	He and his pals have offered to do the painting in a weekend or two.
CO23	do one's utmost	do the most that one is able	We should do our utmost to achieve our goal in life.
CO23	do a sum	calculate simple numbers	I remember how much I hated doing sums when I was at school.
CO23	make a remark	say something about something/somebody	The presidential candidate made a remark off the cuff.
CO23	make a contribution	give something, especially money or goods	We'd like to make a small contribution to the cost of the holiday.
CO23	make a discovery	find something for the first time	The two scientists both made the same discovery independently.
CO23	make a habit	begin to do something regularly	You can phone me at work as long as you don't make a habit of it.
CO23	make history	do sth that influences the course of history	Anybody can make history. Only a great man can write it.
CO23	make a bonfire	make a fire, build a fire	The campers went foraging for wood to make a bonfire.
CO23	make a choice	select or decide between two or more options	Susan had to make a choice between the two boys.
CO23	make an enquiry	ask for general information about something	I'll have to make a few enquiries and get back to you.
CO23	make a point of	make a special and noticeable effort to do sth	Please make a point of remembering our guests' names.
CO23	make a confession	admit that one has done sth wrong	After hours of questioning by police, he made a full confession.
CO24
CO24	make sure	make certain, ensure	She made sure that the audience was ready to hear her speech.
CO24	do the housework	do the tasks, such as cleaning and cooking	I had a quarrel with Veronica about who should do the housework.
CO24	do business	be involved in commerce or trade	We do business with a number of German companies.
CO24	make fun of	make unkind insulting remarks about sb or sth	He dug his own grave when he made fun of the boss.
CO24	do the shopping	buy things in shops	I usually do the shopping and clean the house on Saturdays.
CO24	make a suggestion	express an idea or plan for someone to consider	If I may make a suggestion, perhaps we could begin a little earlier.
CO24	do harm	injure physically, morally, or mentally	Try to choose products that do the least harm to the environment.
CO24	do a course	do a set of classes on a particular subject	He did a course in mental health at his local college.
CO25
CO25	make a difference	cause a change, be important in some way	Watch how you can make a difference to your environment.
CO25	make a promise	tell someone that you will certainly do something	If we make a promise to others, we put ourselves in a cage.
CO25	do one's best	do as well as one possibly can at something	The doctor did his best to reassure us that she would be all right.
CO25	make a reservation	arrange to have a seat, a room in a hotel, etc.	I'd like to make a reservation for four people at two o'clock tonight.
CO25	do exercise	do physical activities in order to stay healthy	Do exercise every day and you'll be back in condition.
CO25	do good	have a useful effect	Whenever he cannot do good he must be kept from doing harm.
CO25	do the job	complete a task or achieve a desired outcome	It's time she stood aside and let a more qualified person do the job.
CO25	make a profit	earn or get money by or from something	A businessman should grab at any chance to make a profit.
CO25	make a complaint	say that something is wrong or not satisfactory	If you wish to make a complaint, you should see the manager.
CO25	do the dishes	wash the dishes	I'll do the dishes when I've finished writing this letter.
CO26
CO26	make a fuss	complain or become angry about something	His father makes a fuss of him every time he comes home.
CO26	do homework	do work that a student is given to do at home	You can't watch any more television until you do your homework!
CO26	do well	be successful, progres	As a small new company they did well to weather the recession.
CO26	make friends	start a friendly relationship	Barbara has always found it easy to make friends at school.
CO26	make a comment	make a statement about someone or something	His coworkers made positive comments about his future plans.
CO26	do research	study a subject in detail	He's done some research to find out the cheapest way of traveling.
CO26	make a prediction	say that something will happen in the future	I don't want to make any predictions about the result of this match.
CO26	do damage	cause harm or injury to something	The accident that happened yesterday did a lot of damage to the car.
CO26	make progress	move forward in a task or activity	My daughter is very bright. She is making progress hand over fist.
CO26	do a report	complete, perform a report	Jeniffer needs to do the report before the deadline.
CO27
CO27	make an attempt	try to do sth, especially sth difficult	If I asked him a specific question, he made an attempt to answer it.
CO27	make a decision	choose something after thinking about it	The time is fast approaching when we shall have to make a decision.
CO27	do the washing	wash the clothes	I do the washing and then I hang it out in the garden.
CO27	make an exception	allow a rule not to be followed	I wouldn't normally agree but I'll make an exception in this case.
CO27	make a sandwich	prepare a sandwich	She opened the package the same day to make a sandwich.
CO27	make a fortune	earn a great deal of money	He made a fortune buying old houses and fixing them up to sell.
CO27	do one's duty	do one's tasks or what is expected of one	The military court reprimanded her for failing to do her duty.
CO27	do sb a favour	do something for someone as an act of kindness	Could you do me a favour and get rid of this letter I've just received?
CO28
CO28	come into effect	come into force, start to apply	When will the new residence requirements come into effect?
CO28	come to light	become known or to be discovered	Some important evidence has come to light about the murder.
CO28	come as a surprise	make someone feel surprised	This limitation of static analysis should not come as a surprise.
CO28	come to a standstill	slow down and finally stop, to stop completely	All production will come to a standstill if the workers go on strike.
CO28	come under pressure	being made to feel forced to do something	The Labour government came under pressure from the trade unions.
CO28	get cold feet	suddenly become too frightened to do something	Even the best athletes can get cold feet before a big game.
CO28	get wind of	hear or find out about something secret or private	We'd better do something fast before the public gets wind of it.
CO28	get the hang of	earn the skills that are needed to do something	It is difficult for a foreigner to get the hang of English idioms.
CO28	get the sack	be dismissed suddenly from a job	Two two workers got the sack for fighting in the warehouse.
CO28	get rid of	relieve or free oneself of	Could you get rid of some of that clutter in your bedroom?
CO28	set a precedent	do something that establishes a standard, pattern	The judgment on pension rights has set a precedent.
CO28	set sail	begin a boat journey	Christopher Columbus set sail for the New World in the Santa Maria.
CO28	set eyes on	see sth or meet sb, especially for the first time	Most of them had never set eyes on white people before.
CO28	set foot in	go to a place	The moment I set foot in this house, my world turned upside down.
CO28	set an objective	say what you or sb else will or must try to achieve	It is very important to set objectives in the company.
CO28	take exception to	be angry or upset because of something	She takes exception to being addressed by her surname.
CO28	take pride in	feel pleased about, to be proud of	We take pride in our responsibilities as teachers in new China.
CO28	take priority over	be dealt with or done first	The search for a new vaccine took priority over all other research.
CO28	take a toll on	have a serious, bad effect on sb or sth	It's true that sleeping with a snorer can take a toll on your health.
CO28	take a dim view of	disapprove of something	The villagers take a dim view of people who try to impress them.
CO29
CO29	put paid to	finish or destroy something	A car accident put paid to her chances of taking part in the race.
CO29	put into words	express in speech or writing as well as thought	It's really hard to put into words how she feels now.
CO29	put on a brave face	try to appear brave or calm	I had to put on a brave face and try to show him I wasn't worried.
CO29	put the blame on	assign someone the blame for something	The spokesperson put the blame on the salesperson of the shop.
CO29	put effort into	try hard to do something	Let's try again Jack, only put more effort into it this time.
CO29	fall by the wayside	fail to complete something or be completed	Under evil social influence, some young people fell by the wayside.
CO29	fall to pieces	break apart, disintegrate or collapse	Her marriage began to fall to pieces after only a few years.
CO29	fall prey to	be influenced by someone or something	Children in this part of the world often fall prey to drug dealers.
CO29	fall on stony ground	(of words or a suggestion) be ignored	Her speech about the need for reform fell on stony ground.
CO29	fall from grace	lose favour or a position of power or honour	He was the head of the intelligence service until his fall from grace.
CO29	see the last of	see someone or something for the last time	Mark's an annoying man and I'll be glad to see the last of him.
CO29	see eye to eye	be in full agreement	They usually see eye to eye on the things that really matter.
CO29	see the light	understand sth you did not understand before	Maria finally saw the light and ended the relationship.
CO29	have seen better days	be old and in bad condition	My blue shirt is five years old, it has seen better days.
CO29	see sense/reason	be reasonable and have good judgment	I talked to him for an hour, but I couldn't make him see sense.
CO29	break new ground	do sth innovative that is regarded as an advance	The scheme says nothing new. It doesn't break new ground.
CO29	break the news	tell someone bad news	He didn't know how he was going to break the news to his sister.
CO29	break the law	do something that is illegal	I broke the law, and I must face the consequences of my actions.
CO29	break the spell	end a magical influence or enchantment	He needs to find a way to break the spell and win back his money.
CO29	break the silence	end a period of silence by talking or making a noise	Kate decided to break her silence about her son's suffering.
CO30
CO30	conduct an experiment	do an experiment	The scientific research institute has conducted many experiments.
CO30	incur costs/debts	pay money because of something you have done	The investors were forced to incur costs selling their shares.
CO30	hold water	appear to be valid, sound, or reasonable	Her demonstration of the deduction logic does not hold water.
CO30	crave attention	have a very strong feeling of wanting attention	I've never seen an artist so desperately crave attention.
CO30	stand your ground	stay where you are when someone threatens you	Mike is somebody who's really been able to stand his ground.
CO30	harbour a grudge	keep feelings of anger or resentment	Do you know anyone who might harbour a grudge against you?
CO30	flout the law	show that you have no respect for a law	Many bar owners flout the laws on under-age drinking.
CO30	boost confidence	make you feel more confident	The increase in capital allowances will also help to boost confidence.
CO30	grant access	give permission to see	She was finally granted access to the medical records.
CO30	divulge information	give someone information that should be secret	He refused to divulge any information regarding her whereabouts.
CO31
CO31	contract a disease	catch or become ill with a disease	Adam contracted the disease during his youth.
CO31	condone wrongdoing	accept behaviour that is morally wrong	We cannot condone the use of violence under any circumstances.
CO31	beggar (all) description	be impossible to believe or describe	My boss's incompetence is astounding. It beggars all description.
CO31	rig the ballot	control the results of the election dishonestly	They had not found any evidence of an attempt to rig the ballot.
CO31	nurse a grievance	keep feeling angry about a past wrong	She nurses a grievance against his employers for not promoting her.
CO31	shoulder the responsibility	accept a difficult or unpleasant responsibility	She has had to shoulder the responsibility of her mother's mistakes.
CO31	quench one's thirst	drink something to stop feeling thirsty	Fruit juices are excellent because they quench your thirst.
CO31	swallow one's pride	decide to do sth although it will embarrass you	Ann's going to have to swallow her pride and ask for her job back.
CO31	tender one's resignation	give notice that you will no longer be working	After due consideration, he has decided to tender his resignation.
CO31	endorse a candidate	express formal support for a candidate	The staff votes each year to endorse a candidate for editor-in-chief.
CO32
CO32	friendship	cools down \| grows \| strengthens \| develops	Their friendship developed through their shared interest in the Arts.
CO32	crime	breeds \| develops \| rises \| doubles	Organised crime more than doubled from 2010 to 2012.
CO32	rumour	flies around \| spreads \| gets about \| circulates	There's a rumour flying around that you're thinking of leaving.
CO32	business	prospers \| expands \| flourishes \| collapses	No new business can flourish in the present economic climate.
CO32	war	is declared \| escalates \| is waged \| breaks out	The war escalated, on the ground, in the air, and at sea.
CO32	plan	backfires \| succeeds \| materialises \| founders	Their plan backfired on them, and they lost all their money.
CO32	accident	takes place \| happens \| occurs	The accident took place about ten miles south of the Iraqi border.
CO32	time	passes \| flies \| drags \| goes by	Time passes quickly when you are absorbed in reading a good book.
CO32	colour	fades \| changes \| matches \| clashes with	All colours fade, especially under the impact of direct sunlight.
CO32	fire	flickers \| spreads \| dies down \| crackles	The fire spread into the roof of an adjoining empty property.
CO33
CO33	pressure	builds up \| increases \| eases \| falls	As the temperature rises, the pressure builds up inside the chamber.
CO33	sound	carries \| echoes \| travels \| dies away	We know sound travels about one kilometre in three seconds.
CO33	water	drips \| spurts \| splashes \| flows	The water flows from the tank by gravity to the houses below.
CO33	price	slumps \| drops \| skyrockets \| soars	This success is paying economic dividends as oil prices skyrocket.
CO33	light	streams \| reflects \| shines \| refracts	Normal rainbows form when light refracts through raindrops or mist.
CO33	industry	booms \| declines \| shrinks \| springs up	Many shopkeepers suffered as the fishing industry declined.
CO33	crowd	gathers \| cheers \| roars \| disperses	A crowd gathered around the speaker to hear what he had to say.
CO33	situation	develops \| deteriorates \| changes \| arises	The situation arises in the context of callback functions.
CO33	pain	intensifies \| disappears \| wears off \| begins	A few hours after the pain began to wear off.
CO33	symptom	persists \| recur \| worsens \| occur	If symptoms persist, please consult your doctor.
CO37
CO37	pay a compliment	praise or commend someone	Some people find it difficult to pay a compliment directly.
CO37	achieve success	gain success as by hard work or effort	He struggled for five years to achieve success as a musician.
CO37	win a prize	win a reward that you get for being successful	I hope someday I can take part in a quiz show and win a prize!
CO37	defeat an opponent	win a victory over someone in a competition	They became the first team to defeat an opponent by 40 points.
CO37	break a promise	fail to do something you promised	He broke his promise and there wasn't a thing we could do about it.
CO37	take an exam	participate in a test to show knowledge	Applicants take an exam to measure basic mathematical skills.
CO37	save energy	prevent the loss or waste of energy	Everybody seems to have a plan to boost supply or save energy.
CO37	catch a cold	become infected with a cold	Having caught a cold today, she has to sing one octave lower.
CO37	chair a meeting	lead a meeting from start to finish	A woman who chairs a meeting is a chairwoman, never a chairman.
CO37	express feelings	give verbal or other expression to one's feelings	If you don't express your feelings, frustration can build up.
CO38
CO38	get an electric shock	get a discharge of electricity through your the body	You get an electric shock if you touch a live wire.
CO38	pay attention	take notice of someone or something	The teacher told the student to pay attention to his spelling.
CO38	break the law	do something that is illegal	Clearly, the police cannot break the law in order to enforce it.
CO38	take notes	write down notes, as during a lecture or interview	Do you usually take notes in class with a pen or pencil?
CO38	keep track of	have the latest information or knowledge about sth	It's difficult to keep track of all the new discoveries in medicine.
CO38	come into view	suddenly emerge or become visible	As he watched, the ship came into view from behind the berg.
CO38	hold the line	wait to speak to someone on the telephone	Hold the line , please, and I'll put you through.
CO38	bear the pain	accept or endure the pain	Helen was afraid she wouldn't be able to bear the pain.
CO38	save sb the trouble	avoid involving sb in useless or pointless effort	I'll make the appointment for you to save you the trouble.
CO38	launch a new product	introduce something new such as a product	The company is going to launch a new product in 2026.
CO39
CO39	have a good time	enjoy oneself or have a very enjoyable experience	I simply knew that I was going to have a good time this weekend.
CO39	take someone's place	replace someone	She bears a grudge against me because I took her place in the office.
CO39	break someone's heart	overwhelm someone with sadness	I know Tom broke your heart, but there are lots of guys out there.
CO39	catch sight of	notice something only for a moment	The woman caught sight of me and turned away.
CO39	pay someone a visit	go and see someone, usually for a short time	At first he thought of paying her a visit, but he changed his mind.
CO39	come to an end	become completed or exhausted	The cymbals crashed, and the symphony came to an end.
CO39	get a degree	successfully complete the required studies	Her plan is to get a degree in physics and then work abroad.
CO39	go on an excursion	go on a short trip usually made for pleasure	My class is going on an excursion to Niagara Falls next week.
CO39	fall into a trap	make a mistake that many people make	She never fell into the trap of making friends with her employees.
CO39	set a good example	behave in a way that other people should copy	Jennifer should be setting a good example to her younger sister.
CO40
CO40	catch a bus	get on a bus to travel somewhere	Bob walked down the street and caught a bus at the corner.
CO40	break a record	perform better than ever before	The athlete broke all the school records in swimming.
CO40	protect the environment	prevent the environment from being damaged	Public pressure to protect the environment is strong and growing.
CO40	come to terms with	gradually accept a sad situation	John's grieving family battled to come to terms with their loss.
CO40	pay the bill	pay all the costs for something	The gas company threatened to cut him off if he didn't pay the bill.
CO40	go for a ride	take a trip or journey in a vehicle	They invited us to get in the car and go for a ride with them.
CO40	have a rest	stop what you're doing to relax	No doubt she'll want to unpack and have a rest before dinner.
CO40	hold one's breath	cease breathing temporarily	Please breathe out slowly and then hold your breath.
CO40	lose consciousness	become unconscious	She lost consciousness at seven o'clock and died a few hours later.
CO40	book a ticket	pay for a journey or entry to a place	Eventually Tim plucked up courage and booked a ticket to Barcelona.
CO41
CO41	catch fire	start to burn or burst into flames	Do not stand too close to that stove. Your clothes may catch fire.
CO41	come under attack	be strongly criticized	The government has come under attack from opposition leaders.
CO41	break the rules	disobey a rule or agreement	I have no sympathy for him. He broke the rules and got caught.
CO41	pay by credit card	make a payment using a credit card	If you pay by credit card, the charge will reflect the exchange rate.
CO41	take a seat	sit down, become seated	Please take a seat - the manager will soon be here.
CO41	run a business	be in charge of a business	They told her that a woman should not run a business.
CO41	perform an operation	operate on a patient	Seeing that he was in danger, they decided to perform an operation.
CO41	visit a place	go to a place in order to look at it	I want to visit a place that is clean and attracts educated people.
CO41	achieve a goal	successfully accomplish or reach a goal	They cooperate closely to achieve a goal set by the community.
CO41	raise hopes	make someone feel more hopeful	The announcements raise hopes of ending this political crisis.
CO42
CO42	take hostage	capture somebody in order to get something	Three women were taken hostage during the bank robbery.
CO42	lose one's temper	fail to retain composure when angry	As the argument escalated, Ella lost her temper completely.
CO42	tell the truth	be frank, admit something	He suggested that he did not want me to tell the truth.
CO42	lodge a complaint	make a formal statement about something	If you wish to lodge a complaint you'd better get on to the manager.
CO42	lay the table	set the table	She laid the table, but it was no use preparing the salad yet.
CO42	serve a purpose	be useful or helpful in some way	These small village shops serve a very useful purpose.
CO42	have difficulty	have trouble doing something	She was clearly having difficulty in restraining herself.
CO42	gain control	get control	The party is expecting to gain control of the council soon.
CO42	stand trial	be put on trial in a law court	Two other men are to stand trial for their part in the bombing.
CO42	give birth	bear a child or young	His wife gave birth to their first child, and he was ecstatic about it.