letter

letter
noun
1 written/printed message
ADJECTIVE
lengthy, long
brief, short
ten-page, etc.
rambling
countless, numerous

She received countless letters of support while in jail.

occasional

Apart from the occasional letter, they had not been in touch for years.

airmail
registered
handwritten
anonymous
formal, official
business
personal
confidential, private
open, public

The editor published an open letter to the president.

circular
chain
form, standard
sample
accompanying, cover (AmE), covering (BrE), explanatory (esp. BrE)

The conditions are explained in the accompanying letter.

Send your résumé with a cover letter. (AmE)

Send your CV with a covering letter. (BrE)

thank-you

I wrote my uncle a thank-you letter as soon as I opened the present.

congratulatory
warning
acceptance, rejection

I've had ten job interviews and received ten rejection letters.

resignation
suicide
fan
love
intimate
nice
friendly
heartfelt, impassioned

She wrote an impassioned letter to her local newspaper to complain about the new road.

polite
apologetic
angry, strong, strongly worded, threatening
indignant
critical
poison pen

He had been sending poison pen letters to people at work.

VERB + LETTER
draft, write

She drafted an angry letter to the newspaper.

read
get, have, receive

I haven't had a letter from her for months.

mail (AmE), post (BrE), send
email
fax
deliver
forward

The letter was forwarded from my old address.

seal
open
acknowledge, answer, reply to, respond to

I was angry that they didn't even acknowledge my letter.

address

The letter was addressed to me.

sign
publish

The newspaper refused to publish the letter.

edit

We reserve the right to cut or edit letters.

LETTER + VERB
arrive, come, reach sb

I hope my last letter has reached you.

be dated … 

The letter is dated July 7.

cross

Our letters crossed.

be lost
announce sth, ask (sb) sth, explain sth, say sth, state sth, tell sb sth

She wrote him a letter saying that she was not coming back.

begin, start, start off

The letter started off by thanking us for our offer.

continue, go on

His letter went on to give reasons for his refusal to take part.

conclude, end

The letter concluded with a threat of possible legal action.

contain sth

The letter contained information that only the killer could know.

enclose sth

The charity received an anonymous letter enclosing a large donation.

appear

A letter headed ‘Advertising Mania’ appeared in the paper.

LETTER + NOUN
writer, writing

George Bernard Shaw was a prolific letter writer.

carrier (AmE) (postman/postwoman in BrE)
box (BrE)

A card dropped through the letter box.

(mail slot in AmE)

There's a letter box on the corner of the street.

(mailbox in AmE)
opener (esp. AmE)
bomb (mail bomb in AmE)
PREPOSITION
by letter

Please reply by letter.

in a/the letter

In your letter of June 5 … 

letter about, letter concerning, letter regarding
letter from, letter to

a letter to the editor

letter of

a letter of application/apology

2 sign that represents a sound in a language
ADJECTIVE
big, large
block, capital, upper-case

Fill in the form in block letters.

lower-case, small
bold
initial

The company's name is made from the initial letters of his children's names.

double

Words with double letters, such as ‘accommodate’, are commonly misspelled.

silent

words such as ‘debt’ and ‘half’, which contain silent letters

PREPOSITION
in … letters

His name was written in large white letters over the doorway.

PHRASES
the letters of the alphabet

Collocations dictionary. 2013.

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Synonyms:

Look at other dictionaries:

  • letter — let‧ter [ˈletə ǁ ər] noun [countable] 1. a written or printed message that is usually put in an envelope and sent by mail: • Please sign the letter and mail it back within two weeks. alloˈcation ˌletter also alˈlotment ˌletter FINANCE a letter… …   Financial and business terms

  • letter — let·ter n 1: a direct written statement addressed to an individual or organization; broadly: an official communication see also counterletter determination letter: a letter from an administrative agency (as the Internal Revenue Service) usu. in… …   Law dictionary

  • Letter — Let ter, n. [OE. lettre, F. lettre, OF. letre, fr. L. littera, litera, a letter; pl., an epistle, a writing, literature, fr. linere, litum, to besmear, to spread or rub over; because one of the earliest modes of writing was by graving the… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Letter — and similar can mean: *Letter (alphabet), a grapheme, part of an alphabet, abjad, abugida, or syllabary *Letter (message), correspondence, a written message *Letter (paper size), the letter size paper * Letters can also mean literature, as in… …   Wikipedia

  • letter — letter, epistle, missive, note, message, dispatch, report, memorandum are comparable when they mean a communication sent or transmitted as distinct from one conveyed directly from source to recipient (as by oral utterance). Letter is the ordinary …   New Dictionary of Synonyms

  • letter — letter1 [let′ər] n. [ME lettre < OFr < L littera, letter of the alphabet, (in pl.) a letter, epistle] 1. a written or printed symbol employed to represent a speech sound or sounds; character in an alphabet: in some languages, as English,… …   English World dictionary

  • letter — ► NOUN 1) a character representing one or more of the sounds used in speech; any of the symbols of an alphabet. 2) a written, typed, or printed communication, sent by post or messenger. 3) the precise terms of a statement or requirement. 4)… …   English terms dictionary

  • Letter — Sf erw. fach. (17. Jh.) Entlehnung. In Anlehnung an frz. lettre umgebildet aus älterem Litter, das in mittelhochdeutscher Zeit aus l. littera Buchstabe entlehnt ist (frz. lettre ist dessen lautgerechter Nachfolger). Die Herkunft des lateinischen… …   Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen sprache

  • letter — [n1] symbol of an alphabet ABCs*, alphabet, cap, capital, character, majuscule, minuscule, rune, sign, small letter, type, uncial; concept 284 Ant. number letter [n2] written communication acknowledgment, answer, billet, dispatch, epistle, junk… …   New thesaurus

  • letter — According to the Private Express Statutes, a message directed to a specific person or an address and recorded in or on a tangible object. Also a shortened way to refer to letter size mail …   Glossary of postal terms

  • Letter — Let ter, n. [From {Let} to hinder.] One who retards or hinders. [Archaic.] [1913 Webster] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

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