Collins COBUILD Advanced Learner's English Dictionary - much

Frequency: The word is one of the 700 most common words in English. 1. You use much to indicate the great intensity, extent, or degree of something such as an action, feeling, or change. Much is usually used with ‘so’, ‘too’, and ‘very’, and in negative clauses with this meaning. She laughs too much... Thank you very much... My hairstyle hasn’t changed much since I was five. ADV: ADV after v 2. If something does not happen much, it does not happen very often. He said that his father never talked much about the war... Gwen had not seen her Daddy all that much, because mostly he worked on the ships... Do you get back East much? = often ADV: oft with brd-neg, ADV after v 3. You use much in front of ‘too’ or comparative adjectives and adverbs in order to emphasize that there is a large amount of a particular quality. The skin is much too delicate... You’d be so much happier if you could see yourself the way I see you... = far ADV: ADV compar, ADV too c darkgreen]emphasis 4. If one thing is much the same as another thing, it is very similar to it. The day ended much as it began... Sheep’s milk is produced in much the same way as goat’s milk. ADV: ADV as/like cl, ADV like n, ADV n as n, ADV n 5. You use much to indicate that you are referring to a large amount of a substance or thing. They are grown on the hillsides in full sun, without much water... The Home Office acknowledges that much crime goes unreported... DET: DET n-uncount, oft with brd-neg • Much is also a pronoun. ...eating too much and drinking too much... There was so much to talk about. ? little PRON • Much is also a quantifier. Much of the time we do not notice that we are solving problems... She does much of her work abroad... QUANT: QUANT of def-n-uncount/def-sing-n 6. You use much in expressions such as not much, not very much, and too much when replying to questions about amounts. ‘Can you hear it where you live?’ He shook his head. ‘Not much.’... ‘Do you care very much about what other people think?’—‘Too much.’ ADV: ADV as reply 7. If you do not see much of someone, you do not see them very often. I don’t see much of Tony nowadays... QUANT: with brd-neg, QUANT of n-proper/pron 8. You use much in the expression how much to ask questions about amounts or degrees, and also in reported clauses and statements to give information about the amount or degree of something. How much money can I afford?... See just how much fat and cholesterol you’re eating... DET: how DET • Much is also an adverb. She knows how much this upsets me but she persists in doing it... ADV: how ADV, ADV with cl, ADV compar • Much is also a pronoun. How much do you earn?... PRON: how PRON 9. You use much in the expression as much when you are comparing amounts. Their aim will be to produce as much milk as possible... DET: as DET n, usu as DET n as cl/group 10. You use much as to introduce a fact which makes something else you have just said or will say rather surprising. Much as they hope to go home tomorrow, they’re resigned to staying on until the end of the year. PHRASE 11. You use as much in expressions such as ‘I thought as much’ and ‘I guessed as much’ after you have just been told something and you want to say that you already believed or expected it to be true. You’re waiting for a woman–I thought as much. PHRASE: v PHR 12. You use as much as before an amount to suggest that it is surprisingly large. The organisers hope to raise as much as ?6m for charity. PHRASE: PHR amount c darkgreen]emphasis 13. You use much less after a statement, often a negative one, to indicate that the statement is more true of the person, thing, or situation that you are going to mention next. They are always short of water to drink, much less to bathe in... PHRASE: PHR cl/group, PHR before v 14. You say nothing much to refer to something that is not very interesting or important. ‘What was stolen?’—‘Oh, nothing much.’... PHRASE 15. If you describe something as not much of a particular type of thing, you mean that it is small or of poor quality. It hasn’t been much of a holiday... PHRASE: PHR n 16. So much for is used to indicate that you have finished talking about a subject. (SPOKEN) Well, so much for the producers. But what of the consumers? PHRASE: PHR n 17. If you say so much for a particular thing, you mean that it has not been successful or helpful. (INFORMAL) He has spent 19 million pounds, lost three cup finals and been relegated. So much for money. PHRASE: PHR n 18. If you say that something is not so much one thing as another, you mean that it is more like the second thing than the first. I don’t really think of her as a daughter so much as a very good friend... PHRASE: with brd-neg, PHR group, PHR before v 19. If you say that someone did not do so much as perform a particular action, you are emphasizing that they did not even do that, when you were expecting them to do more. I didn’t so much as catch sight of him all day long... PHRASE: with brd-neg, PHR before v c darkgreen]emphasis 20. You use so much so to indicate that your previous statement is true to a very great extent, and therefore it has the result mentioned. He himself believed in freedom, so much so that he would rather die than live without it. PHRASE: PHR that 21. If a situation or action is too much for you, it is so difficult, tiring, or upsetting that you cannot cope with it. His inability to stay at one job for long had finally proved too much for her. PHRASE: v-link PHR, oft PHR for n 22. You use very much to emphasize that someone or something has a lot of a particular quality, or that the description you are about to give is particularly accurate. ...a man very much in charge of himself... PHRASE: oft PHR n c darkgreen]emphasis 23. a bit much: see bit not up to much: see up