- distance
- noun1 amount of space between two pointsADJECTIVE▪ considerable, enormous, fair, good, great, huge, large, long, vast▪
The town is a considerable distance from the coast.
▪It's quite a good distance to the nearest town.
▪The people travel vast distances to find food.
▪ short, small▪ reasonable▪ certain, given▪ average, mean▪the average distance covered during pursuits by cheetahs
▪ equal▪ maximum, minimum▪ optimal (AmE), optimum▪ correct, right▪ exact▪ estimated▪ full▪ extra▪ fixed▪ varying▪ infinite▪ comfortable, discreet, respectful, safe▪The cat sat and watched us from a safe distance.
▪ braking (esp. BrE), stopping▪Allow for greater stopping distances when pulling a loaded trailer.
▪ geographic (esp. AmE), geographical (esp. BrE), physical▪These immigrants face problems of physical distance.
VERB + DISTANCE▪ cover, cross, go, move, travel, traverse▪He moved a short distance up the valley.
▪The spacecraft has the ability to traverse great distances.
▪Nobody thought he would last 15 rounds but he went the full distance. (figurative)
▪ drive, fly, swim, walk, etc.▪The young birds were soon flying distances of 200 feet or more.
▪She sprinted the entire distance.
▪ bridge, span▪The arch spans a distance of 285 feet.
▪ keep, maintain▪I kept a comfortable distance behind the van.
▪ close, shorten▪He was gradually closing the distance between himself and the other runners.
▪ calculate, determine, measure▪ estimate, gauge, judge▪It is very difficult to judge distances in the desert.
DISTANCE + NOUN▪ runner, swimmer▪a champion distance swimmer
▪ runningPREPOSITION▪ at a distance▪She followed them at a discreet distance.
▪ at a distance from▪When launching a kick, it is essential to be at the correct distance from your opponent.
▪ at a distance of▪The town is situated at a distance of twenty miles from Porto.
▪ from a distance (of)▪Visitors can only view the painting from a distance of three yards.
▪ over a distance (of)▪The sound can be heard over a distance of more than five miles.
▪ within a distance▪children living within a certain distance of the school
▪ distance away from▪The house is a short distance away from the bus station.
▪ distance between▪What's the distance between London and Edinburgh?
▪ distance from▪ distance to▪the distance from our house to the school
PHRASES▪ a … distance ahead, away, apart, etc., some distance ahead, away, apart, etc.▪The leaders in the race were a considerable distance ahead.
▪A bomb exploded some distance away.
▪ within commuting distance, within driving distance, within walking distance▪The bars are within walking distance.
▪ within shouting distance, within spitting distance, within striking distance, within touching distance (esp. BrE)▪The cat was now within striking distance of the duck.
▪We came within spitting distance of winning the cup. (figurative)
2 point a long way away/being far awayADJECTIVE▪ far, middle▪I could just see the hills in the far distance.
VERB + DISTANCE▪ gaze (off) into, look (off) into, stare (off) into▪ stretch (off) into▪The road stretches off into the distance.
DISTANCE + NOUN▪ education (AmE), learning▪The college offers a wide range of distance-learning courses.
▪ vision▪to have good distance vision
PREPOSITION▪ at a distance▪At a distance it is difficult to make out the detail on the building.
▪ from a distance▪We admired the palace from a distance.
▪ in the distance▪In the distance was a small town.
3 not being too closely involvedADJECTIVE▪ critical, professional▪ emotional, psychological, socialVERB + DISTANCE▪ keep, maintain▪She was warned to keep her distance from Jay if she didn't want to get hurt.
▪Sociologists must maintain critical distance from the ideas of society at any particular time.
PREPOSITION▪ distance from▪He felt a sense of distance from the others.
PHRASES▪ a sense of distance
Collocations dictionary. 2013.
