Collins Dictionaries - Collins Primary Illustrated Dictionary

VERB 1 If you care about something or someone, you are concerned about them and interested in them.

2 If you care for a person or an animal, you look after them.

NOUN 3 worry or trouble • She didn’t have a care in the world.

4 If you do something with care, you concentrate very hard on it so that you don’t make mistakes. • He wrote the telephone number down with great care.

PHRASE 5 If you take care of a person or an animal, you look after them. • Shakira said she would take care of the hamsters while we were on holiday.

career careers

NOUN Your career is the series of jobs you have in life, often in the same occupation. • a teaching career

careful

ADJECTIVE acting sensibly and with care

ANTONYM: careless

carefully ADVERB

careless

ADJECTIVE not paying attention to what you are doing

SYNONYMS: slapdash, sloppy

carelessly ADVERB carelessness NOUN

caretaker caretakers

NOUN a person who looks after a large building such as a school

cargo cargoes

NOUN goods carried on a ship or plane

Caribbean

Said “carib-ee-un” NOUN 1 short for the Caribbean Sea, which lies between the West Indies and South America

ADJECTIVE 2 to do with the Caribbean Sea or the islands in it • I love Caribbean food.

carnation carnations

NOUN a plant with thin leaves and scented white, pink or red flowers

carnival carnivals

NOUN a public festival with music, processions and dancing

carnivore carnivores

NOUN an animal that eats meat

carnivorous ADJECTIVE

carol carols

NOUN a religious song sung at Christmas time

carpenter carpenters

NOUN a person who makes and repairs wooden things

carpentry NOUN

carpet carpets

NOUN a thick floor covering usually made of material like wool

carriage carriages

NOUN 1 one of the separate sections of a passenger train

2 an old-fashioned vehicle for carrying passengers, usually pulled by horses

Carroll diagram Carroll diagrams

NOUN a way of sorting and displaying information in the form of a grid

carrot carrots

NOUN a long, thin, orange-coloured root vegetable

carry carries, carrying, carried

VERB 1 If you carry something, you hold it and take it somewhere.

2 When a vehicle carries people, they travel in it.

3 If people or animals carry a germ or a disease, they can pass it on to others.

4 If a sound carries it can be heard a long way off. • Their voices carried across the valley.

cart carts

NOUN a vehicle with wheels, used for carrying things and usually pulled by horses or cattle

carton cartons

NOUN a cardboard or plastic container

cartoon cartoons

NOUN 1 a humorous drawing in a newspaper, comic or magazine

2 a film in which all the characters and scenes are drawn

cartridge cartridges

NOUN 1 a tube containing a bullet and an explosive substance, used in guns

2 a small plastic container filled with ink that you put in a pen or a printer

cartwheel cartwheels

NOUN an acrobatic movement in which you lift both arms in the air then throw yourself sideways on to one hand, swinging your body around in a circle with your legs straight until you land on your feet again

carve carves, carving, carved

VERB If you carve something, you shape it or slice it with a knife.

cascade cascades, cascading, cascaded

NOUN 1 a small waterfall or group of waterfalls flowing down a rocky hillside

VERB 2 When water cascades, it flows very fast down a hillside or over rocks.

case cases

NOUN 1 a box for keeping or carrying things in

2 a particular situation or event • a bad case of measles

3 A crime that the police are investigating is called a case.

cash

NOUN money in notes and coins

cashier cashiers

NOUN the person who deals with money in a place such as a shop or a bank

casserole casseroles

NOUN 1 a stew made with meat, vegetables or fish that is baked in the oven

2 a dish with a lid, which is used for cooking

cast casts, casting, cast

NOUN 1 all the people who act in a play or film

2 an object made by pouring a liquid such as plaster into a container and leaving it to harden

VERB 3 If an object casts a shadow on to a place, it makes a shadow fall there.

castaway castaways

NOUN someone who has been shipwrecked but manages to survive on a lonely shore or an island

castle castles

NOUN a large building with walls or ditches round it to protect it from attack

[from Latin castellum meaning small fort]

casual

ADJECTIVE 1 happening by chance and without planning • I made a casual remark.

2 Casual clothes are suitable for informal occasions.

casualty casualties

NOUN a person killed or injured in an accident or a war • There were many casualties after the motorway crash.

cat cats

NOUN a small, furry mammal with whiskers, a tail and sharp claws, often kept as a pet

catalogue catalogues

NOUN a list of things, such as the goods you can buy from a company, the objects in a museum, or the books in a library • I ordered my trainers from a mail order catalogue.

catastrophe catastrophes

NOUN a terrible disaster

catastrophic ADJECTIVE

catch catches, catching, caught

VERB 1 If you catch an object that is moving through the air, you grasp it with your hands.

2 If you catch a person or animal, you capture them. • The police caught the thief.

3 If you catch a bus, train or plane, you get on it and travel somewhere.

4 If you catch a cold or a disease, you become ill with it.

NOUN 5 a hook that fastens or locks a door or window

catching

ADJECTIVE If a disease or illness is catching it spreads very quickly. • Measles is catching.

catchy catchier, catchiest

ADJECTIVE Something that is catchy, such as a tune, is pleasant and easy to remember.

category categories

NOUN a group of things that have something in common

caterpillar caterpillars

NOUN the larva of a butterfly or moth. Caterpillars look like small, coloured worms and feed on plants.

cathedral cathedrals

NOUN an important church with a bishop in charge of it • Canterbury Cathedral

Catholic Catholics

ADJECTIVE OR NOUN a Roman Catholic, or belonging to that religion

cattle

PLURAL NOUN cows and bulls kept by farmers

caught

VERB the past tense of catch

cauldron cauldrons

NOUN a large, round metal cooking pot, especially one that sits over a fire

[from Latin caldarium meaning hot bath]

cauliflower cauliflowers

NOUN a large, round, white vegetable surrounded by green leaves

cause causes, causing, caused

VERB 1 To cause something means to make it happen.

NOUN 2 The cause of something is the thing that makes it happen. • The cause of the explosion was a gas leak.

cautious

ADJECTIVE Someone who is cautious acts carefully in order to avoid danger or disappointment.

cavalry

NOUN The cavalry is the part of an army that fights on horseback or in armoured vehicles such as tanks.

cave caves, caving, caved

NOUN a large hole in the side of a cliff or under the ground

cave in

VERB If a roof caves in, it collapses inwards.

caveman or cavewoman cavemen or cavewomen

NOUN Cavemen and cavewomen were people who lived in caves in prehistoric times.

cavity cavities

NOUN a small hole in something solid • There were cavities in his back teeth.

CD

NOUN an abbreviation for compact disc

CD-ROM

NOUN a way of storing video, sound or text on a compact disc that can be played on a computer. CD-ROM is an abbreviation for compact disc read-only memory.