Childrens Illustrated Thesaurus

43

a b c d e g h i j k l m p q r s t u v w x y z

n

o

f

colour

club^2

noun a heavy stick

» Andy dressed up as a

caveman and carried a club

to the fancy-dress party.

bat, stick, truncheon

clue

noun something that helps

to solve a problem or mystery

» The police looked for clues

to solve the crime.

hint, indication, lead

clumsiness

noun awkwardness

of movement » Meg’s usual

clumsiness was made worse

by her high-heeled shoes.

awkwardness,

ungainliness

clumsy

adjective moving awkwardly

» Rob is big and clumsy

in his movements.

awkward, gauche,

lumbering, uncoordinated,

ungainly, accident-prone,

bumbling, gawky, maladroit

antonym: graceful

coast

noun the land next to the sea

» We holidayed on the coast

this year.

beach, border, coastline,

seaside, shore, strand

coat^1

noun an animal’s fur or hair

» Anna gave the dog’s coat

a brush.

fleece, fur, hair, hide, pelt,

skin, wool

coat^2

noun a warm piece of

outerwear clothing » You’ll

need a coat; it’s cold outside.

jacket, overcoat, raincoat,

cagoule, mac

coating

noun a layer of something

» The lake had a thin

coating of ice.

coat, covering, layer

coax

verb to persuade gently

» We coaxed her into coming

to the shops with us.

cajole, persuade, talk into,

inveigle, prevail upon,

wheedle

coil

verb to wind in loops

» The snake coiled its body

around the tree.

curl, loop, spiral, twine,

twist, wind

cold^1

adjective having a low

temperature » The spring

weather felt so cold that it

felt more like midwinter.

arctic, biting, bitter,

bleak, chilly, freezing,

icy, raw, wintry

antonym: hot

cold^2

adjective not showing affection

» Aunt Maud was a cold,

unfeeling person who loved

her cats more than people.

aloof, distant, frigid,

lukewarm, reserved,

stony, standoffish,

undemonstrative

antonym: warm

collapse^1

verb to fall down » Stand

well clear – the old building

looks like it could collapse

at any minute.

fall down, give way

collapse^2

verb to fail » The business

collapsed due to a lack

of money.

fail, fold, founder

collapse^3

noun the failure of something

» The collapse of the project

was caused by a disagreement

in the team.

downfall, failure

colleague

noun a person someone works

with » My colleagues all

worked extremely hard on

the latest project.

associate, fellow worker,

partner, workmate

collect

verb to gather together

» My brother Sebastian

collects stamps that come

from all over the world.

accumulate, assemble,

gather, raise, aggregate,

amass

antonym: scatter

collection

noun a group of things

collected together

» We visited the collection

of paintings in the gallery.

assortment, group, store

colloquial

adjective used in everyday

conversation » Clare used

colloquial expressions like:

“He’s gone nuts”.

conversational, everyday,

informal, demotic,

idiomatic, vernacular

colony^1

noun a country controlled

by another country

» Many European countries

used to have colonies around

the world.

dependency, dominion,

territory

colony^2

noun a group of settlers

in a place » A colony of

Scots settled in Australia.

community, outpost,

settlement

colossal

adjective very large indeed

» The statue was colossal.

enormous, gigantic, huge,

immense, mammoth,

massive, vast

antonym: tiny

colour^1

verb to give something a colour

» Jules used hair dye to colour

his hair.

dye, paint, stain, tint

Meg’s usual clumsiness was made

worse by her high-heeled shoes.

The lake had a thin coating of ice.

My brother Sebastian collects

stamps that come from all over

the world.

We visited the collection of

paintings in the gallery.

garb
She preferred
colourful garb.

034-056_C.indd 43 22/03/17 11:34 am