Collins Dictionaries - Collins First Dictionary

1 When you act, you do something.

The police acted quickly to stop the fight.

2 If you act in a play or film, you pretend to be one of the people in it.

active adjective

Someone who is active moves around a lot.

My grandmother is very active for her age.

add verb adds, adding, added

1 If you add one thing to another, you put it with the other thing.

Add the water to the flour.

2 If you add numbers together, you find out how many they make together.

Add three and six.

address noun addresses

Your address is the name of the place where you live.

adjective noun adjectives

An adjective is a word like “big” or “beautiful”, that tells you more about a person or thing.

admire verb admires, admiring, admired

If you admire something, you like it and think that it is very nice or very good.

I admired his painting.

adopt verb adopts, adopting, adopted

If you adopt another person’s child, you take them into your own family as your son or daughter.

adult noun adults

An adult is a person who is not a child anymore.

adventure noun adventures

An adventure is something exciting which you do, or which happens to you.

He wrote a book about his adventures in the jungle.

adverb noun adverbs

An adverb is a word like “slowly”, “now”, or “very” that tells you about how something is done.

aeroplane noun aeroplanes

An aeroplane is a large vehicle with wings and engines that flies through the air.

afraid adjective

If you are afraid, you are frightened because you think that something bad will happen to you.

I am not afraid of the dark.

after

1 If something happens after another thing, it happens later than it.

I watched television after dinner.

2 If you go after a person or thing, you follow them or chase them.

They ran after her.

afternoon noun afternoons

The afternoon is the part of each day between twelve noon and about six o’clock.

again

If something happens again, it happens another time.

We went to the park again yesterday.

against

1 If something is against another thing, it is touching it.

He leaned against the wall.

2 If you play against someone in a game, you try to beat them.

The two teams played against one another.

age noun ages

Your age is the number of years that you have lived.

ago

You use ago to talk about a time in the past.

She left two weeks ago.

agree verb agrees, agreeing, agreed

If you agree with someone, you think the same as they do about something.

I agree with you about him.

ahead

Someone who is ahead of another person is in front of them.

My brother ran ahead of us.

air noun

Air is the mixture of gases all around us that we breathe.

I opened the window and let in some air.

aircraft noun aircraft

An aircraft is any vehicle which can fly.

airport noun airports

An airport is a place where aeroplanes fly from and land.

alarm noun alarms

An alarm is a piece of equipment that warns you of danger by making a noise.

The car alarm woke us up.

alien noun aliens

In stories and films, an alien is a creature from another planet.

alike adjective

If people or things are alike, they are the same in some way.

The two cats looked alike.

alive adjective

If a person, an animal or a plant is alive, they are living and not dead.

all

You use all to talk about everything, everyone, or the whole of something.

Did you eat all of it?

alligator noun alligators

An alligator is a large reptile with a long body, a long mouth and sharp teeth. Alligators’ mouths are in the shape of a letter U.

allow verb allows, allowing, allowed

If you allow someone to do something, you let them do it.

Mum allowed us to go out and play.

all right or alright adjective

If you say that something is all right, you mean that it is good enough.

I thought the film was all right.

almost

Almost means very nearly.

I almost missed the bus.

alone adjective

When you are alone, you are not with any other people.

She was alone in the room.

along

1 If you walk along a road or other place, you move towards one end of it.

We walked along the street.

2 If you bring something along when you go somewhere, you bring it with you.

She brought a present along to the party.

aloud

When you read or talk aloud, you read or talk so that other people can hear you.

She read the story aloud to us.

alphabet noun alphabets

An alphabet is a set of letters that is used for writing words. The letters are arranged in a special order.

A is the first letter of the alphabet.

already

You use already to show that something has happened before the present time.

She is already here.

also

You use also to give more information about something.

I’m cold, and I’m also hungry.

always

If you always do something, you do it every time or all the time.

She’s always late for school.

am

Look at be.

I am six years old.

amazing adjective

You say that something is amazing when it is a surprise and you like it.

We had an amazing holiday.

ambulance noun ambulances

An ambulance is a vehicle for taking people to hospital.

amount noun amounts

An amount of something is how much there is of it.

We only have a small amount of food.

amphibian noun amphibians

An amphibian is an animal that lives both on land and in water, for example a frog or a toad.

ancient adjective

Ancient means very old, or from a long time ago.

They lived in an ancient castle.

angry adjective angrier, angriest

When you are angry, you feel very upset about something.

She was angry at her brother for breaking the window.

animal noun animals

An animal is any creature that is alive, but not a plant or a person.

ankle noun ankles

Your ankle is the part of your body where your foot joins your leg.