Collins COBUILD Advanced Learner's English Dictionary - interest

(interests, interesting, interested) Frequency: The word is one of the 700 most common words in English. 1. If you have an interest in something, you want to learn or hear more about it. There has been a lively interest in the elections in the last two weeks... His parents tried to discourage his interest in music, but he persisted... Food was of no interest to her at all. N-UNCOUNT: also a N 2. Your interests are the things that you enjoy doing. Encourage your child in her interests and hobbies even if they’re things that you know little about... N-COUNT 3. If something interests you, it attracts your attention so that you want to learn or hear more about it or continue doing it. That passage interested me because it seems to parallel very closely what you’re doing in the novel... It may interest you to know that Miss Woods, the housekeeper, witnessed the attack. VERB: V n, it V n to-inf 4. If you are trying to persuade someone to buy or do something, you can say that you are trying to interest them in it. In the meantime I can’t interest you in a new car, I suppose?... VERB: V n in n/-ing 5. If something is in the interests of a particular person or group, it will benefit them in some way. Did those directors act in the best interests of their club?... N-COUNT: usu pl, usu in N with poss 6. You can use interests to refer to groups of people who you think use their power or money to benefit themselves. The government accused unnamed ‘foreign interests’ of inciting the trouble... N-COUNT: usu pl, supp N 7. A person or organization that has interests in a company or in a particular type of business owns shares in this company or this type of business. (BUSINESS) Disney will retain a 51 percent controlling interest in the venture. N-COUNT: usu with supp 8. If a person, country, or organization has an interest in a possible event or situation, they want that event or situation to happen because they are likely to benefit from it. The West has an interest in promoting democratic forces in Eastern Europe... N-COUNT: usu N in n/-ing 9. Interest is extra money that you receive if you have invested a sum of money. Interest is also the extra money that you pay if you have borrowed money or are buying something on credit. Does your current account pay interest?... N-UNCOUNT: oft N n 10. see also interested, interesting, compound interest, self-interest, vested interest 11. If you do something in the interests of a particular result or situation, you do it in order to achieve that result or maintain that situation. ...a call for all businessmen to work together in the interests of national stability. to have someone’s interests at heart: see heart PHRASE: N inflects, PHR n