Collins Primary Illustrated Dictionary. Collins Dictionaries

clumps

      NOUN a small group of things growing or standing close together • a clump of trees

      clumsy clumsier, clumsiest

      ADJECTIVE moving awkwardly and carelessly

      SYNONYMS: awkward, ungainly

      clumsily ADVERB

      clung

      VERB the past tense and past participle of cling

      cluster clusters, clustering, clustered

      NOUN 1 a group of things together • There is a cluster of houses by the lake.

      VERB 2 If people cluster together, they stay together in a close group.

      [from Old English clyster meaning bunch of grapes]

      clutch clutches, clutching, clutched

      VERB If you clutch something, you hold it tightly or seize it.

      clutter clutters, cluttering, cluttered

      NOUN 1 an untidy mess

      VERB 2 Things that clutter a place fill it and make it untidy.

      coach coaches, coaching, coached

      NOUN 1 a large bus that takes passengers on long journeys

      2 a section of a train that carries passengers

      VERB 3 If someone coaches you, they help you to get better at a sport or a subject.

      SYNONYMS: instruct, train

      NOUN 4 someone who coaches a person or sports team

      coal

      NOUN a hard, black rock taken from under the ground and burned as a fuel

      coarse coarser, coarsest

      ADJECTIVE 1 Something that is coarse is rough in texture.

      2 Someone who is coarse talks or behaves in a rude, offensive way.

      coarsely ADVERB coarseness NOUN

      coast coasts, coasting, coasted

      NOUN 1 the edge of the land where it meets the sea

      VERB 2 If a vehicle coasts somewhere, it moves there with the engine switched off. • The car coasted quietly down the hill.

      coastal ADJECTIVE

      coastguard coastguards

      NOUN an official who watches the sea near a coast to get help for sailors when they need it

      coat coats, coating, coated

      NOUN 1 a piece of outdoor clothing with sleeves, which you wear over other clothes

      2 An animal’s coat is the fur or hair on its body.

      3 A coat of paint or varnish is a layer of it.

      VERB 4 If you coat something, you cover it with a thin layer of something. • We coated the biscuits with chocolate.

      coating coatings

      NOUN a thin layer of something spread over a surface

      coax coaxes, coaxing, coaxed

      VERB If you coax someone to do something, you persuade them gently to do it.

      cobble cobbles

      NOUN Cobbles or cobblestones are stones with a rounded surface that were used in the past for making roads.

      cobra cobras

      NOUN a type of large poisonous snake from Africa and Asia

      cobweb cobwebs

      NOUN the very thin net that a spider spins to catch insects

      cock cocks

      NOUN an adult male chicken, or any other male bird

      cockerel cockerels

      NOUN a young cock

      cockle cockles

      NOUN a type of small, edible shellfish

      Cockney Cockneys

      NOUN someone who was born in the East End of London

      cockpit cockpits

      NOUN 1 the area in a plane where the pilot sits in control

      2 the driver’s compartment in a racing car

      cockroach cockroaches

      NOUN a large, dark-coloured insect often found in dirty rooms

      [from Spanish cucaracha]

      cocky cockier, cockiest

      ADJECTIVE INFORMAL If you are cocky, you are sure of yourself and sometimes rather cheeky.

      cocoa

      NOUN 1 a brown powder made from the seeds of a tropical tree and used for making chocolate

      2 a hot drink made from this powder

      coconut coconuts

      NOUN a very large nut with white flesh, milky juice, and a hard hairy shell

      cocoon cocoons

      NOUN a silky covering over the larvae of moths and some other insects

      cod

      NOUN a large, edible fish

       The plural of cod is cod.

      code codes

      NOUN 1 a system of replacing the letters or words in a message with other letters or words, so that nobody can understand the message unless they know the system • They wrote messages in code.

      2 a group of numbers and letters used to identify something • the telephone code for Falmouth

      coeducation

      NOUN Coeducation is a system where girls and boys are taught together at the same school.

      coeducational ADJECTIVE

      coffee

      NOUN 1 a powder made by roasting and grinding the beans of the coffee plant

      2 a hot drink made from coffee

      coffin coffins

      NOUN a box in which a dead body is buried or cremated

      cog cogs

      NOUN a wheel with teeth, which turns another wheel or part of a machine

      coil coils, coiling, coiled

      NOUN 1 a length of rope or wire wound into a series of loops

      2 A single loop is also called a coil.

      VERB 3 If something coils, or if you coil it, it winds into a series of loops. • The snake coiled around the branch.

      coin coins, coining, coined

      NOUN 1 a small metal disc used as money

      VERB 2 If you coin a word or a phrase, you invent it.

      coinage

      NOUN the coins that are used in a particular country

      coincide coincides, coinciding, coincided

      VERB When two things coincide, they happen at the same time. • Auntie’s visit coincided with my birthday.

      coincidence coincidences

      NOUN what happens when two or more things occur at the same time by chance

      coke

      NOUN a grey fuel produced from coal

      cola colas

      NOUN a sweet, brown fizzy drink, like Coca-Cola