- fate
- noun1 sb/sth's futureADJECTIVE▪ awful, grim, horrible, terrible▪ cruel, unhappy▪
What an unfortunate fate the gods had condemned her to.
▪ sad, tragic▪ better, worse▪Jackson deserves a better fate than this.
▪They decided to kill themselves rather than suffer a worse fate at the hands of their enemy.
▪ common, usual▪ likely▪Under-representation is the likely fate of small parties.
▪ eventual, final, ultimate▪ inevitable▪the almost inevitable fate awaiting gorillas and tigers
▪ uncertain, unknown▪She faces an uncertain fate.
▪The ultimate fate of the captured troops is unknown.
▪ the same, similar▪She broke her ankle before the big game, then suffered the same fate a month later.
▪ different▪His brother met an altogether different fate.
▪ economic, political▪They're worried about their political fate.
VERB + FATE▪ face▪He faces a grim fate if he is sent back to his own country.
▪ meet, suffer, undergo▪ share▪He had no desire to share the fate of his executed comrades.
▪ avoid, be spared, escape▪Fortunately, Robert was spared this cruel fate.
▪She managed to escape the fate of the other rebels.
▪ deserve▪What had he done to deserve such a terrible fate?
▪ accept, be resigned to▪The condemned men were resigned to their fate.
▪ bemoan, curse, lament▪Instead of just bemoaning your fate, why not do something to change it?
▪ contemplate, ponder▪ control▪She has taken steps to control her own fate.
▪ choose▪the rights of a woman to choose the fate of her body
▪ seal▪He had signed his confession and sealed his own fate.
▪ decide, determine▪An extraordinary general meeting to decide the company's fate will be held on Thursday.
▪ affect, alter, change, influence▪Will it change the fate of the company?
▪ abandon sb/sth to, leave sb/sth to▪The generals abandoned the men to their fate.
▪ rescue sb/sth from, save sb/sth from▪ discover, hear, hear of, know, know of, learn, learn of▪He will learn his fate in court tomorrow.
▪ predict▪the prophet who predicts fate and can see the future
▪ await▪The convicts awaited their fate in prison.
FATE + VERB▪ await sb/sth, be in store for sb/sth, lie in store for sb/sth▪They were warned of the dreadful fate that awaited them if ever they returned to their homes.
▪ befall sb/sth▪Worst of all was the fate that befell the captured rebel general.
▪ be in the balance, hang in the balance▪The fate of the African wild dog hangs in the balance (= is uncertain).
▪ be tied to sth▪Our fate is tied to yours.
▪ depend on sth▪This team's fate depends on how it performs today.
PHRASES▪ leave your fate in sb's hands, place your fate in sb's hands, put your fate in sb's hands▪ have sb/sth's fate in your hands, hold sb/sth's fate in your hands▪The jury held the fate of the accused in their hands.
▪ a fate worse than death (often humorous)▪Getting married seemed a fate worse than death.
▪ sb's fate rests in sb's hands▪His fate rests in the hands of the judges.
2 power controlling everythingADJECTIVE▪ cruel▪He believed that the universe was controlled by the whims of a cruel fate.
▪ kind▪Fate was kind to me.
VERB + FATE▪ believe in▪Such coincidences are almost enough to make one believe in fate.
▪ tempt▪It would be tempting fate to say that we will definitely win the game.
▪ leave sth to▪I have a great deal of trust and I leave everything to fate.
FATE + VERB▪ decide sth, decree sth▪Fate decreed that she would never reach America.
▪ intervene▪He secretly hoped that fate would intervene and save him having to meet her.
▪ strike▪Only weeks later fate struck again, leaving her unable to compete.
▪ deal a/its hand, deal sb a hand▪Anne accepted the cruel hand that fate had dealt her.
▪ take a hand▪Fate took a hand in (= influenced) the outcome of the championship.
▪ have in store for sb/sth, hold in store for sb/sth▪Little did she know what fate had in store for her.
▪ conspire against sb▪For some reason fate conspired against them and everything they did was problematic.
▪ smile on sb, smile upon sb▪Fate was not smiling upon her today.
PHRASES▪ an accident of fate, a turn of fate, a twist of fate▪It seemed a cruel twist of fate that the composer should have died so young.
▪ let fate take its course▪He was content standing aside, letting fate take its course.
▪ the hand of fate▪The new job had come at just the right time for him. Was it the hand of fate?
Collocations dictionary. 2013.