{ "term": "favour", "partOfSpeech": "noun", "ox3000": true, "cefr": "b1", "definitions": [ { "senseNumber": 1, "definition": "a thing that you do to help somebody", "sensetop": "as a favour (to somebody)", "labels": "(North American English)", "cefr": "b1", "ox3000": true, "examples": [ { "text": "Could you **do me a favour** and pick up Sam from school today?" }, { "text": "Can I ask a favour?" }, { "text": "I would never ask for any favours from her." }, { "text": "I'll ask Steve to take it. He **owes me a favour**." }, { "text": "Thanks for helping me out. I'll **return the favour** *(= help you because you have helped me)* some time." }, { "text": "I'm going as a favour to Ann, not because I want to.", "contextForm": "as a favour (to somebody)" }, { "text": "**Do yourself a favour** *(= help yourself)* and wear a helmet on the bike." }, { "text": "He needed another favour from her." }, { "text": "Although I am friends with the tennis ace, I don't expect any favours from him on court." }, { "text": "As a personal favour to me, please don't release my story to the press." }, { "text": "Thanks very much. I'll return the favour one day." }, { "text": "I came here to ask you a big favour." }, { "text": "Rodrigo accepted the favours bestowed on him by the new king." }, { "text": "She had one last favour to ask her brother." } ], "collocations": { "adjective": ["big", "great", "huge"], "verb + favour/​favor": ["ask", "expect", "bestow"] } }, { "senseNumber": 2, "definition": "approval or support for somebody/something", "sensetop": "favour with somebodyfavour among somebodyin favour (with somebody)out of favour (with somebody)", "labels": "(formal)", "cefr": "b2", "ox3000": true, "examples": [ { "text": "Artists sought the favour of wealthy patrons." }, { "text": "The suggestion to close the road has **found favour** with *(= been supported by)* local people.", "contextForm": "favour with somebody" }, { "text": "to gain/win/lose favour with somebody" }, { "text": "The programme has lost favour with viewers recently." }, { "text": "The policy is gaining favour among voters.", "contextForm": "favour among somebody" }, { "text": "She's not in favour with *(= supported or liked by)* the media just now.", "contextForm": "in favour (with somebody)" }, { "text": "It seems Tim is back in favour with the boss *(= the boss likes him again)*." }, { "text": "Reality TV has begun to **fall out of favour** with viewers.", "contextForm": "out of favour (with somebody)" }, { "text": "an athlete who **fell from favour** after a drugs scandal" }, { "text": "The government **looks with favour upon** *(= approves of)* the report's recommendations." }, { "text": "Depth of training is looked upon with favour by many employers." }, { "text": "He stood in high favour at the court of Lewis the Pious." }, { "text": "Her political views have not found favour in recent years." }, { "text": "She is too popular with the public to find much favour with the critics." }, { "text": "The bishop was said to have enjoyed the king's favour." }, { "text": "The senior officials were punished and rapidly fell from favour." }, { "text": "This argument found favour among advocates of multiculturalism." }, { "text": "This did not meet with public favour." }, { "text": "This idea has long since fallen out of favour." }, { "text": "Traditionally, vigilante groups have found greater favour on the political right." }, { "text": "Why are we trying to court the favour of critics?" }, { "text": "This piece of software has two points in its favour: it's fast and inexpensive." } ], "collocations": { "adjective": ["good", "great", "high"], "verb + favour/​favor": ["be in", "enjoy", "have"], "preposition": [ "in favour of", "in somebody’s/​something’s favour", "favour among" ], "phrases": [ "an argument in somebody/​something’s favour", "a bias in somebody/​something’s favour", "look with favour on somebody/​something" ] } }, { "senseNumber": 3, "definition": "treatment that is generous to one person or group in a way that seems unfair to others", "examples": [ { "text": "As an examiner, she showed no favour to any candidate." } ], "synonyms": "bias" }, { "senseNumber": 4, "definition": "a small gift given to children at a party", "labels": "(North American English)", "examples": [] }, { "senseNumber": 5, "definition": "agreement to have sex with somebody", "labels": "(old-fashioned)", "examples": [ { "text": "demands for sexual favours" } ] }, { "senseNumber": null, "definition": "you are likely to succeed because the conditions are good and you have an advantage", "examples": [], "topics": ["Success"] }, { "senseNumber": null, "definition": "to try to get somebody to like or support you by praising or helping them a lot", "labels": "(disapproving)", "examples": [ { "text": "He’s always trying to curry favour with the boss." }, { "text": "She tried to curry favour with the teachers." } ] }, { "senseNumber": null, "definition": "used in reply to a question that you think is silly", "labels": "(informal)", "examples": [ { "text": "‘Do you think they'll win?’ ‘Do me a favour! They haven't got a single decent player.’" } ] }, { "senseNumber": null, "definition": "to do something that is not helpful to somebody or that gives a bad impression of them", "examples": [ { "text": "You're not doing yourself any favours, working for nothing." }, { "text": "The orchestra did Beethoven no favours." } ] }, { "senseNumber": 1, "definition": "if you are in favour of somebody/something, you support and agree with them/it", "cefr": "b1", "ox3000": true, "examples": [ { "text": "He argued in favour of a strike." }, { "text": "There were 247 votes in favour (of the motion) and 152 against." }, { "text": "I'm **all in favour of** *(= completely support)* equal pay for equal work." }, { "text": "Most of the ‘don't knows’ in the opinion polls **came down in favour of** *(= eventually chose to support)* the Democrats." }, { "text": "He is strongly in favour of capital punishment." }, { "text": "No one was willing to speak out in favour of their colleague." }, { "text": "She argued in favour of this policy." }, { "text": "The committee came down in favour of setting up a national body." }, { "text": "an argument in favour of censorship" }, { "text": "Environmental conservation generally works in favour of maintaining the status quo." } ], "topics": ["Opinion and argument"] }, { "senseNumber": 2, "definition": "in exchange for another thing (because the other thing is better or you want it more)", "examples": [ { "text": "He abandoned teaching in favour of a career as a musician." }, { "text": "Early in his musical career he abandoned blues in favour of jazz." } ] }, { "senseNumber": 1, "definition": "if something is in somebody’s favour, it gives them an advantage or helps them", "examples": [ { "text": "The exchange rate is in our favour at the moment." }, { "text": "She was willing to bend the rules in Mary's favour." }, { "text": "The golf tournament went in the Americans' favour." } ] }, { "senseNumber": 2, "definition": "a decision or judgement that is in somebody’s favour benefits that person or says that they were right", "cefr": "c2", "examples": [ { "text": "The court decided in Ms Smith’s favour and she received compensation for unfair dismissal." }, { "text": "The High Court found in favour of the plaintiffs." } ], "topics": ["Preferences and decisions"] }, { "senseNumber": null, "definition": "in a fair way", "labels": "(formal)", "examples": [ { "text": "They undertook to make their judgement without fear or favour." } ] } ], "pronunciations": { "uk": [ { "pronunciation": "/ˈfeɪvə(r)/", "audio": "fa/favour/favour__gb_1.mp3" } ], "us": [ { "pronunciation": "/ˈfeɪvər/", "audio": "fa/favour/favour__us_2.mp3" } ] }, "wordOrigin": "Middle English (in the noun sense ‘liking, preference’): via Old French from Latin favor, from favere ‘show kindness to’ (related to fovere ‘cherish’)." }