Collins COBUILD Advanced Learner’s Dictionary полностью

4 VERB If you betray a feeling or quality, you show it without intending to. □ [V n] She studied his face, but it betrayed nothing.

be|tray|al /b I tre I əl/ (betrayals ) N‑VAR A betrayal is an action which betrays someone or something, or the fact of being betrayed. □ [+ of ] She felt that what she had done was a betrayal of Patrick.

be|troth|al /b I troʊ ð ^ə l/ (betrothals ) N‑VAR A betrothal is an agreement to be married. [OLD-FASHIONED ]

be|trothed /b I troʊ ðd/ ADJ [usu v-link ADJ ] If you are betrothed to someone, you have agreed to marry them. [OLD-FASHIONED ] ● N‑SING [usu poss N ] Your betrothed is the person you are betrothed to.

bet|ter ◆◆◆ /be tə ^r / (betters , bettering , bettered )

1Better is the comparative of good .

2Better is the comparative of well .

3 ADV [ADV after v] If you like one thing better than another, you like it more. □  I like your interpretation better than the one I was taught. □  They liked it better when it rained.

4 ADJ [v-link ADJ ] If you are better after an illness or injury, you have recovered from it. If you feel better , you no longer feel so ill. □  He is much better now, he's fine. □  The doctors were saying there wasn't much hope of me getting better.

5 PHRASE You use had better or 'd better when you are advising, warning, or threatening someone, or expressing an opinion about what should happen. □  It's half past two. I think we had better go home. □  You'd better run if you're going to get your ticket. ● In spoken English, people sometimes use better without 'had' or 'be' before it. It has the same meaning. □  You better not say too much aloud.

6 PRON If you say that you expect or deserve better , you mean that you expect or deserve a higher standard of achievement, behaviour, or treatment from people than they have shown you. □  Our long-suffering mining communities deserve better than this.

7 VERB If someone betters a high achievement or standard, they achieve something higher. □ [V n] He recorded a time of 4 minutes 23, bettering the old record of 4-24.

8 VERB If you better your situation, you improve your social status or the quality of your life. If you better yourself , you improve your social status. □ [V n] Others dreamed of owning land and of bettering their social position. □ [V pron-refl] Our parents chose to come here with the hope of bettering themselves.

9Better is used to form the comparative of compound adjectives beginning with 'good' and 'well.' For example, the comparative of 'well-off' is 'better-off.'

10 PHRASE You can say that someone is better doing one thing than another, or it is better doing one thing than another, to advise someone about what they should do. □  Wouldn't it be better putting a time-limit on the task? □  Subjects like this are better left alone.

11 PHRASE If something changes for the better , it improves. □  He dreams of changing the world for the better.

12 PHRASE If a feeling such as jealousy, curiosity, or anger gets the better of you, it becomes too strong for you to hide or control. □  She didn't allow her emotions to get the better of her.

13 PHRASE If you get the better of someone, you defeat them in a contest, fight, or argument. □  He is used to tough defenders, and he usually gets the better of them.

14 PHRASE If someone knows better than to do something, they are old enough or experienced enough to know it is the wrong thing to do. □  She knew better than to argue with Adeline.

15 PHRASE If you know better than someone, you have more information, knowledge, or experience than them. □  He thought he knew better than I did, though he was much less experienced.