- unit
- noun1 single thingADJECTIVE▪ large, small▪ basic, fundamental▪
The family is the basic unit of society.
▪ discrete, individual, single▪ cohesive▪to change a collection of individuals into a cohesive unit
▪ family, social▪the role of the family unit in the community
VERB + UNIT▪ break sth down into, divide sth into▪Large departments were broken down into smaller units.
PHRASES▪ unit of analysis▪This study's unit of analysis is the individual hospital.
2 fixed amountADJECTIVE▪ basic, standard▪ monetary▪ linguisticVERB + UNIT▪ produce▪China produced 65 million units last year.
▪ sell▪The manufacturer sold 73 000 units in the first quarter.
UNIT + NOUN▪ cost, length, weight▪the average unit cost of all products
▪ salesPREPOSITION▪ unit of▪a unit of currency
▪a unit of length
▪fifty units of electricity
PHRASES▪ per unit▪Electricity is ten pence per unit.
3 group of peopleADJECTIVE▪ policy (esp. BrE)▪ research▪ business, productionVERB + UNIT▪ be attached to▪The research unit is attached to the local university.
▪ create, form4 in a hospitalADJECTIVE▪ intensive care▪ accident and emergency, casualty (both BrE)▪ psychiatric, surgical▪ baby, maternity (both BrE)▪She works in the maternity unit at the local hospital.
▪ burn (AmE), burns (BrE), stroke (BrE)5 in the army, police, etc.ADJECTIVE▪ army, combat (esp. AmE), infantry, military▪ intelligence▪ enemy▪ police, road policing (BrE)UNIT + NOUN▪ commander (esp. AmE)6 piece of furniture/equipmentADJECTIVE▪ kitchen (esp. BrE), storage (esp. AmE), vanity (BrE), wall▪ air-conditioning, control, power, processing, shower (BrE)▪the central processing unit in a computer
VERB + UNIT▪ install▪We're having new kitchen units installed.
7 house/buildingADJECTIVE▪ dwelling (formal, esp. AmE), housing, residential▪a single dwelling unit
▪A city council member pledged to build 500 affordable housing units.
▪ business, industrial, retail (all esp. BrE)VERB + UNIT▪ build
Collocations dictionary. 2013.