- majority
- noun1 mostADJECTIVE▪ big, great, huge, large, overwhelming, significant, sizeable, solid, strong, substantial, vast▪ silent▪
The march was by the silent majority who oppose terrorism.
▪ moral▪ black, white▪countries which have an English-speaking white majority
▪ ethnicVERB + MAJORITY▪ compose, constitute, form, make up▪English speakers form the majority of the population.
▪ join▪He joined the majority in criticizing the government's reforms.
MAJORITY + NOUN▪ community, culture, group, population▪ language, religion▪ opinion, view▪ decision▪ owner, shareholder▪ ownership▪ interest, share, stake▪The French company holds a majority stake in the retail chain.
PREPOSITION▪ in the majority▪In the general population, right-handed people are in the majority.
PHRASES▪ in the majority of cases▪In the vast majority of cases, customers get their money back.
2 in an electionADJECTIVE▪ big, huge, large, massive (esp. BrE), overwhelming, solid, strong, substantial▪ clear, comfortable, decisive (esp. BrE)▪ bare, narrow, slender (esp. BrE), slight, slim, small, tiny (esp. BrE)▪ razor-thin (AmE), wafer-thin (BrE)▪ 160-seat, etc.▪ two-to-one (BrE), two-thirds, etc.▪ absolute, outright, overall▪Although they are the biggest single party, they don't have an outright majority.
▪ popular▪ simple▪ working (esp. BrE)▪To govern effectively, he will need a working majority in Congress.
▪the first Labour government with a clear working majority in the House
▪ electoral▪ legislative (esp. AmE)▪ parliamentary▪ government (BrE)▪ Labour, Republican, etc.▪ necessaryVERB + MAJORITY▪ carry, command, have, hold▪ achieve, capture, gain, garner, get, obtain, secure, win▪They failed to win the requisite two-thirds majority.
▪ build▪If the Republicans want to build a majority, they need the north-east.
▪ increase▪Republicans increased their majority in both the House and the Senate.
▪ defend (BrE), maintain, retain▪ lose▪ overturn (esp. BrE)▪ indicate, showMAJORITY + NOUN▪ government, rule▪ leader, whip▪ party▪ decision▪ vote, voting (esp. BrE)▪ support▪ position, status▪ controlPREPOSITION▪ by a majority▪They won by a huge majority.
▪ majority against▪Latest opinion polls have a comfortable majority against the reform.
▪ majority in▪a majority in the Senate
▪ majority in favour/favor of▪Opinion polls indicated a two-thirds majority in favour/favor of ratification of the treaty.
▪ majority over▪He has a decisive majority over his main rivals.
Collocations dictionary. 2013.
