310 |
opening ceremony WM. / A o a wedding/marriage ceremony jtjf iL 2
[U] formal behaviour; traditional actions and words used on particular formal
occasions stand on 'ceremony (Br£) to behave formally i# % % $ ; #] ft ft : Please don’t
stand on ceremony (= Please be
natural and relaxed) with me. if W\ i# Ir #» without 'ceremony in a very rough or informal way li. # ft ; ft ft; Rt ft : He found himself pushed without ceremony out of the house
and the door slammed in his face. ftl&Uft^ Hmmtojm?, —see
also MASTER OF CEREMONIES
cerise /sa'riiz;
sa'riis/ adj. pinkish-red
in colour
; SflfcfelKl ► cerise noun [U]
cerium /'siariam; NAmE 'sir-/ noun [U] (symb Ce) a chemical element. Cerium is a
silver-white metal used in the production of glass and ceramics. cert /s3:t; NAmE S3:rt/ noun (BrE, informal) a thing that
is sure to happen or be successful S&aEiA
£®#J^; 033 certainty: That horse
is a dead cert for (= is sure to
win) the
next race. IP EE
cert. abbr. 1 certificate 2 certified Certain /'S3:tn;
NAmE'S3:rtn/ adj., pron.
• adj. 1 ~ (that ... ) | ~ (to do sth) | ~ (of sth/of doing sth) that you can rely on to happen or
to be true 5$ ;
5ft ^; #/E: It is certain that they will agree/They are certain to agree. iMl# 0 She looks certain to
win an Oscar. # M Jt M ft i ^ ft
climbers face certain death if
the rescue today is unsuccessful.
0 If you want to be certain of getting a ticket, book
now.
, M&UU
ffliTo o note at sure
2 ~ (that ... ) | ~ (of/about sth) firmly
believing sth; having no doubts Sftfil; M/sL; ft$®: She wasn’t certain (that) he had seen her. 0 Are you
absolutely certain about this? f5’^)^Hk¥^6)E^5ft/fn^cl®I,^?
0 I’m not certain who was
there.
o To my certain
knowledge he was somewhere else at the time (= I am sure about it).
3 used to
mention a particular thing, person or group without giving any more details
about it or them ( ftJI&*fflftB4/h ) £A, For certain
personal reasons I shall not
be able to attend. & ft ^ # ft A HC @ , #
# ft fi
£t} E e 0
Certain
people might disagree with this. A^j^^Rlisftft^fslo o They
refused to release their hostages unless certain conditions were met. «Jftft)ft£fft&A
ft0
4 (formal) used with a person’s name to show that the speaker
does not know the person ( # ,
) ££, Mb, -OT-W: Itwas a certain Dr Davis who performed the operation. j|| — ft nLl
$c £1 Hi j|tl E ft A, 5 slight; noticeable, but
difficult to describe «/hW;
ft: That’s true, to a
certain extent,
5$ tU Jit o 0 I felt there was a certain coldness
in her manner. & $ ft M1$
M . Bl f or certai n
without doubt #*£; 6ll A;
ft|®: I can’t say for certain when we ’ll arrive. ft ft ft #; ffl ft
# B4 ^ f u 3\ 0 ma ke
certain
(that ... ) to find out whether sth is definitely true
#6ft ; Ait®; # BJ F3: I think there’s a bus at 8 but you’d better call to make certain. 8 toft, make certain of
sth/of
doing sth to
do sth in order to be sure that sth else will happen 5ft ( jAAft ) : You’ll have to leave soon to make
certain of getting there on time, ft % ft ft itS&, &5&f£ftBtl!lftlPSo
of
a certain 'age if you talk about a person being of a certain age, you
mean that they are no longer young but not yet old ft ^ ft ; ft A ft $£ ; ft ft 6ft The show appeals to an
audience of a certain age. j&ftftf
g ftft^l^t^AISo mpron. certain of ... (formal) used for talking
about some members of a group of people or things without giving their names ( fti&A® #: Certain of those present were
unwilling to discuss the matter further. iftft
MMo
SYNONYMS
certain
bound ♦ sure ♦
definite ♦ assured
These
are all words describing sth that will definitely
happen or is definitely
true. 5|iS|
certain that
you can rely on to happen or be true It
5ftft> 5ft^. It’S certain
that they will agree, o
They are certain to agree, ftf]
bound [not
before noun] certain to happen, or to do or be sth fJfrYi.4 Bound is only
used
in the phrase bound
to do/be, etc. * bound H ft ft
bound to do/be ftft: There
are bound to be changes when the new system is introduced, ftftlfr^ o You’ve done so much work — you’re bound to pass the exam, ftft A X A,
sure certain
to happen or be true; that can be trusted or relied on Al® (
SI®,
6ft ^1, RTS: She’s
sure to be picked for the team. ifef'fA^-A^ti^PAo
o It’s sure
to rain.
Tie
definite (rather
informal) certain to happen;
that is not going to change ft^-ti^: Is it
definite that he’s leaving? ft#
assured (formal) certain to happen hfa
ft: Victory seemed
assured. If A'J&ttft£®7o o They were assured of victory, ftf]
PATTERNS AND COLLOCATIONS
■
certain/sure/assured of sth
■
certain/bound/sure to do sth
■
certain/definite that...
■
I couldn’t say for certain/sure/definite.
■
to be/seem/look certain/bound to
... /sure/
—efinite/
assured
■
by no means certain/bound to ...
/sure/definite/ assured
■
fairly/quite/absolutely certain/sure/definite
certain ly /‘S3:tnli; NAmE 'S3:rtnli/ adv.
1
without doubt A I®; lift; it ft 033 definitely : Without
treatment, she will almost certainly die. H H ft 0 Certainly,
the early years are crucial to a child’s development. ^ A I® fBJ,
ft A J L #r 0 I’m certainly never going there again.
AlPMTo,
o note at surely 2 (used in
answer to questions ft ft 0 ft |b]
US) of course ^ ^; fj: ‘May I see your passport, Mr Scott?’ ‘Certainly.’ “^14# Aft, ” 0‘Doyou
think all this money will
change your life?’ ‘Certainly not. ’
certainty /'S3:tnti; NAmE
'S3:rtnti/ noun (pi. -ies) 1 [c] a thing that is
certain 6ft ft- W ft ; (tfj ft : political/
moral certainties flftt6±/i®|I±5ftftAi®l^ft
o Her
return to the team now seems a certainty. ftft £ J&ftMo 2
[u] the state of being certain 61 fg; tfj ^; 51 ft 14: There is no certainty that the
president’s
removal would end the civil
war. n tlit
fA M ft 2 ® ft o o I can’t say with any
certainty where I’ll be next week. 1$ ft ft il IS T h X
certi fi able /'S3:trfai8bl; NAmE
'S3:rt-/ adj. 1 a person who is certifiable can or should be
officially stated to be insane
: (informal) He’s certifiable (=
he’s crazy), ft W T ft
|r] M c 2 (especially
NAmE) good enough to be officially accepted or recommended ft^;
ft#£##]
certificate o-m noun, verb
m noun /sa'trfikat; NAmE
sar't-/ (abbr. cert.) 1 an official document
that may be used to prove that the facts it