- letter
- noun1 written/printed messageADJECTIVE▪ 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 languageADJECTIVE▪ 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.
