Collins COBUILD Advanced Learner's English Dictionary - with

Frequency: The word is one of the 700 most common words in English. 1. If one person is with another, they are together in one place. With her were her son and daughter-in-law... She is currently staying with her father at his home. PREP 2. If something is put with or is with something else, they are used at the same time. Serve hot, with pasta or rice and French beans... Cookies are just the thing to serve with tall glasses of real lemonade. PREP 3. If you do something with someone else, you both do it together or are both involved in it. Parents will be able to discuss their child’s progress with their teacher... He walked with her to the front door. PREP 4. If you fight, argue, or compete with someone, you oppose them. About a thousand students fought with riot police in the capital... He was in an argument with his landlord downstairs. PREP 5. If you do something with a particular tool, object, or substance, you do it using that tool, object, or substance. Remove the meat with a fork and divide it among four plates... Doctors are treating him with the drug AZT. PREP 6. If someone stands or goes somewhere with something, they are carrying it. A man came round with a tray of chocolates... PREP 7. Someone or something with a particular feature or possession has that feature or possession. He was in his early forties, tall and blond with bright blue eyes... Someone with an income of $34,895 can afford this loan. PREP 8. Someone with an illness has that illness. I spent a week in bed with flu. PREP 9. If something is filled or covered with a substance or with things, it has that substance or those things in it or on it. His legs were caked with dried mud... They sat at a Formica table cluttered with dirty tea cups. PREP 10. If you are, for example, pleased or annoyed with someone or something, you have that feeling towards them. He was still a little angry with her... I am happy with that decision. PREP: adj/n PREP n 11. You use with to indicate what a state, quality, or action relates to, involves, or affects. Our aim is to allow student teachers to become familiar with the classroom... He still has a serious problem with money... Depression lowers the human ability to cope with disease. PREP 12. You use with when indicating the way that something is done or the feeling that a person has when they do something. ...teaching her to read music with skill and sensitivity... He agreed, but with reluctance. PREP 13. You use with when indicating a sound or gesture that is made when something is done, or an expression that a person has on their face when they do something. With a sigh, she leant back and closed her eyes... The front door closed with a crash behind him... PREP 14. You use with to indicate the feeling that makes someone have a particular appearance or type of behaviour. Gil was white and trembling with anger... I felt sick to my stomach with sadness for them... PREP 15. You use with when mentioning the position or appearance of a person or thing at the time that they do something, or what someone else is doing at that time. Joanne stood with her hands on the sink, staring out the window... Michelle had fallen asleep with her head against his shoulder... PREP: PREP n prep/-ing 16. You use with to introduce a current situation that is a factor affecting another situation. With all the night school courses available, there is no excuse for not getting some sort of training... With the win, the US reclaimed the cup for the first time since 1985. PREP 17. You use with when making a comparison or contrast between the situations of different people or things. We’re not like them. It’s different with us... Sometimes I’m busy and sometimes I’m not. It’s the same with most jobs. PREP 18. If something increases or decreases with a particular factor, it changes as that factor changes. The risk of developing heart disease increases with the number of cigarettes smoked... Blood pressure decreases with exercise. PREP: v PREP n 19. If something moves with a wind or current, it moves in the same direction as the wind or current. ...a piece of driftwood carried down with the current... ? against PREP 20. If someone says that they are with you, they mean that they understand what you are saying. (INFORMAL) Yes, I know who you mean. Yes, now I’m with you... I’m not with you. Tell me what you mean. PREP: v-link PREP n 21. If someone says that they are with you, they mean that they support or approve of what you are doing. ‘I’m with you all the way.’—‘Thank you.’ PREP: v-link PREP n