Collins Primary Thesaurus. Collins Dictionaries

of furniture with doors and shelves.

      Some types of cupboard:

      cabinet

      larder

      locker

      safe

      sideboard

      wardrobe

      cure NOUN

      A cure is something that heals or helps someone to get better.

      antidote

      There is no known antidote to the bite of that particular snake.

      medicine

      Dad took some medicine for his stomach ache.

      remedy

      The remedy for boredom is simple. You need to get out more!

      treatment

      Fortunately, the treatment helped and my ankle soon felt better.

      curious ADJECTIVE

      Someone who is curious wants to know more about something.

      inquiring

      “Dad, it said on my report that I’ve an inquiring mind. What does that mean?”

      inquisitive

      Inquisitive about anything mechanical, Fiona dismantled the cuckoo clock.

      interested

      If it’s anything about trains, then my brother is interested.

      nosy

      Our nosy neighbour was anxious to hear any gossip she could.

      curl VERB

      If something curls, it moves in a curve or spiral.

      coil

      The boa constrictor coiled its body slowly round the hapless victim.

      entwine

      Climbing clematis plants entwined themselves with the telephone wire.

      spiral

      Smoke spiralled up from the cottage chimney.

      twist

      The string from the kite twisted as it came tumbling down.

      wind

      The country road wound round in a series of bends.

      curly ADJECTIVE

      Curly hair has many curls in it.

      curled

      My sister’s hair was all curled when she came out of the hairdresser’s.

      frizzy

      In the Afro look of the 1970s, people had a mop of bushy, frizzy hair.

      kinky

      If your hair is naturally straight, you can make it kinky by having it permed.

      wavy

      I would love to have wavy hair, but mine’s dead straight.

      cut (1) NOUN

      A cut is a mark made with a knife or other sharp tool.

      gash

      The nasty gash in Billy’s knee needed to have several stitches.

      groove

      Uncle Ken chiselled a groove in the shelf for plates to stand up in.

      nick

      I was clumsy with the knife and made a nick in the desk.

      slit

      To make the pocket, Mum cut a slit in the fabric.

      cut (2) VERB

      If you cut something, you use a pair of scissors, a knife or another sharp tool to mark it or remove parts of it.

       WORD POWER: This word tends to be used a lot. To make your writing more varied, try to use some of the alternative words suggested here instead.

      cut a little:

      chip

      When she fell, Vanessa chipped her tooth.

      chisel

      I tried to chisel out a hole for the lock, but I split the wood.

      clip

      Ross clipped the hedge for his auntie.

      prune

      When you prune roses in winter, you cut them right back near the base.

      shave

      Kay shaved a little off the shelf to make it fit.

      snip

      For a practical joke, I snipped a bit off Dad’s tie, but he didn’t find it funny.

      trim

      Grandad has his hair trimmed each month – what’s left of it, that is.

      cut hard at something:

      chop

      The karate expert chopped the brick in half with a single blow.

      hack

      Hacking her way through the jungle, the botanist searched for the rare plant.

      slash

      Bluebeard slashed downward with his cutlass, through the rope.

      cut something down:

      chop

      Dad had to chop the old tree down after it was damaged in the storm.

      fell

      The stupid lumberjack proceeded to fell the wrong tree.

      mow

      It’s useless to mow the lawn in wet weather.

      cut something in two:

      bisect

      With one swing of the axe the man bisected the thick log.

      divide

      Using a sharp knife, Mum divided the last piece of pie for my brother and me.

      halve

      “If I halve this apple, will you share it with me?” I asked Helen.

      Tools you can use to cut things:

      axe

      carving knife

      chisel

      cleaver

      clippers

      guillotine

      knife

      mower

      razor

      saw

      scalpel

      scissors

      secateurs

      shears

Dd

      damage (1) VERB

      If you damage something, you harm or spoil it.

      deface

      The teacher turned purple when she saw Craig had defaced his language book.

      harm

      Fortunately, no one was harmed in the crash.

      spoil

      My painting was spoilt when I spilt water on it.

      vandalize

      It’s very sad when people vandalize buildings.

      ➔ See