- factor
- nounADJECTIVE▪ big, important, main, major, relevant, significant▪
one of the most significant factors
▪ critical, crucial, deciding, decisive, determining, key, vital▪This is regarded as the crucial factor in deciding who should get priority.
▪Money proved to be the deciding factor.
▪ contributing, contributory▪Poor organization was certainly a contributory factor to the crisis.
▪ complicating▪A complicating factor is her parents' refusal to cooperate with the police.
▪ limiting▪ mitigating▪The appeal judges spoke of strong mitigating factors in the case.
▪ aggravating▪ additional▪ single▪The closure of the mine was the single most important factor in the town's decline.
▪ common▪Look for the common factor in all these cases.
▪ external, extraneous, extrinsic▪External factors in the production of disease include pollution of the environment.
▪ internal, intrinsic▪ causal, causative▪ risk▪Studies have established that smoking is a risk factor for cancer.
▪ contextual, demographic, economic, environmental, genetic, political, psychological, situational, social▪ human▪The human factor is crucial to success in team management.
VERB + FACTOR▪ consider, take into account▪A variety of other factors will be taken into account.
▪ identify▪ depend onFACTOR + VERB▪ be involved, operate▪the contextual factors which operate to hinder understanding
▪ affect sth, be responsible for sth, cause sth, contribute to sth, determine sth, influence sth, predispose sb/sth to sth▪environmental factors which predispose children to middle-ear infections
▪ explain sth▪ constrain sth, inhibit sth, militate against sth▪one of the factors that influenced his decision
▪ interact▪We examine how economic and social factors interact.
▪ include sth▪ be at play▪There are several factors at play here.
PREPOSITION▪ factor behind▪the main factors behind the dollar's weakness
▪ factor in▪a key factor in the decision
PHRASES▪ a combination, number, variety, etc. of factors▪The outcome will depend on a number of factors.
Collocations dictionary. 2013.
