- enemy
- nounADJECTIVE▪ bitter, deadly, great, implacable, mortal, sworn▪ biggest, worst▪ dangerous, formidable, powerful▪ chief, main, principal▪
The lion is the zebra's chief enemy.
▪ ancient, old, traditional▪In today's game England play their old enemy, Scotland.
▪Iraq's traditional enemy, Iran
▪ real, true▪ common▪They united in the face of a common enemy.
▪ natural▪The Church and the Communist Party were natural enemies.
▪ perceived▪ invisible, unseen▪ potential▪ external, foreign▪ politicalVERB + ENEMY▪ have▪She didn't have an enemy in the world.
▪ make▪He made many enemies during his brief reign.
▪I didn't want to make an enemy of Mr Evans.
▪ attack, fight, fight against▪He was prepared to use any weapon to fight against his enemies.
▪ defeat, destroy, eliminate, kill▪ confront, engage, face, meet▪He turned to face his enemy.
▪ know▪It is important to know your enemy.
▪ defend sth against, protect sb/sth against, protect sb/sth from▪The cat uses its claws to protect itself against enemies.
▪ deter▪The skunk releases a pungent smell to deter the enemy.
ENEMY + VERB▪ attack sb/sthENEMY + NOUN▪ army, forces, soldiers, troops, unit▪ defences, lines, positions, ranks▪The spies managed to penetrate behind enemy lines.
▪ camp▪ action, attack, bombing, fire▪the first casualty from enemy action
▪The men came under enemy fire.
▪ activity▪Intelligence reported enemy activity just off the coast.
▪ country, territory▪ aircraft, fighter, plane, ship, tank▪ missile, weapon▪ propaganda▪ prisoner▪ targetPREPOSITION▪ against an/the enemy▪They decided to use the weapon against the enemy.
▪ enemy of▪an enemy of God
PHRASES▪ your own worst enemy▪Some dancers become their own worst enemies, criticizing themselves for every imperfection.
▪ fall into enemy hands▪The document must not at any price fall into enemy hands.
▪ in the face of the enemy▪He was shot for desertion in the face of the enemy.
▪ an enemy of the State▪Thousands of perceived enemies of the State were imprisoned.
▪ public enemy▪Since the scandal he has become public enemy number one (= very unpopular).
Collocations dictionary. 2013.
