Verb + Noun Collocations List

REF	LEVEL	COLLOCATION	MEANING	EXAMPLE
MAKE/DO + NOUN
CO23		do likewise	in the same way or manner	I'm going to bed and you would be well advised to do likewise.
CO23		do yourself an injury	hurt oneself	Don't do that, Robert, you might do yourself an injury.
CO23		do sightseeing	visit interesting places, especially when on holiday	Ann wanted to relax on the beach as well as do some sightseeing.
CO23		do some revision	study again something you have already learned	She knows she hasn't done enough revision for tomorrow's exam.
CO23		do birdwatching	observe birds in their natural habitat	Maps are available for those who'd like to do a little birdwatching.
CO23		do a translation	change words into a different language	Next time, you write the letter, I'll do the translation.
CO23		do time	be in a prison for a period of time	None of us knew that Stephen had done time for robbery.
CO23		do the painting	make a picture using paints	He and his pals have offered to do the painting in a weekend or two.
CO23		do one's utmost	do the most that one is able	We should do our utmost to achieve our goal in life.
CO23		do a sum	calculate simple numbers	I remember how much I hated doing sums when I was at school.
CO23		make a remark	say something about something/somebody	The presidential candidate made a remark off the cuff.
CO23		make a contribution	give something, especially money or goods	We'd like to make a small contribution to the cost of the holiday.
CO23		make a discovery	find something for the first time	The two scientists both made the same discovery independently.
CO23		make a habit	begin to do something regularly	You can phone me at work as long as you don't make a habit of it.
CO23		make history	do sth that influences the course of history	Anybody can make history. Only a great man can write it.
CO23		make a bonfire	make a fire, build a fire	The campers went foraging for wood to make a bonfire.
CO23		make a choice	select or decide between two or more options	Susan had to make a choice between the two boys.
CO23		make an enquiry	ask for general information about something	I'll have to make a few enquiries and get back to you.
CO23		make a point of	make a special and noticeable effort to do sth	Please make a point of remembering our guests' names.
CO23		make a confession	admit that one has done sth wrong	After hours of questioning by police, he made a full confession.
CO24
CO24		make sure	make certain, ensure	She made sure that the audience was ready to hear her speech.
CO24		do the housework	do the tasks, such as cleaning and cooking	I had a quarrel with Veronica about who should do the housework.
CO24		do business	be involved in commerce or trade	We do business with a number of German companies.
CO24		make fun of	make unkind insulting remarks about sb or sth	He dug his own grave when he made fun of the boss.
CO24		do the shopping	buy things in shops	I usually do the shopping and clean the house on Saturdays.
CO24		make a suggestion	express an idea or plan for someone to consider	If I may make a suggestion, perhaps we could begin a little earlier.
CO24		do harm	injure physically, morally, or mentally	Try to choose products that do the least harm to the environment.
CO24		do a course	do a set of classes on a particular subject	He did a course in mental health at his local college.
CO25
CO25		make a difference	cause a change, be important in some way	Watch how you can make a difference to your environment.
CO25		make a promise	tell someone that you will certainly do something	If we make a promise to others, we put ourselves in a cage.
CO25		do one's best	do as well as one possibly can at something	The doctor did his best to reassure us that she would be all right.
CO25		make a reservation	arrange to have a seat, a room in a hotel, etc.	I'd like to make a reservation for four people at two o'clock tonight.
CO25		do exercise	do physical activities in order to stay healthy	Do exercise every day and you'll be back in condition.
CO25		do good	have a useful effect	Whenever he cannot do good he must be kept from doing harm.
CO25		do the job	complete a task or achieve a desired outcome	It's time she stood aside and let a more qualified person do the job.
CO25		make a profit	earn or get money by or from something	A businessman should grab at any chance to make a profit.
CO25		make a complaint	say that something is wrong or not satisfactory	If you wish to make a complaint, you should see the manager.
CO25		do the dishes	wash the dishes	I'll do the dishes when I've finished writing this letter.
CO26
CO26		make a fuss	complain or become angry about something	His father makes a fuss of him every time he comes home.
CO26		do homework	do work that a student is given to do at home	You can't watch any more television until you do your homework!
CO26		do well	be successful, progres	As a small new company they did well to weather the recession.
CO26		make friends	start a friendly relationship	Barbara has always found it easy to make friends at school.
CO26		make a comment	make a statement about someone or something	His coworkers made positive comments about his future plans.
CO26		do research	study a subject in detail	He's done some research to find out the cheapest way of traveling.
CO26		make a prediction	say that something will happen in the future	I don't want to make any predictions about the result of this match.
CO26		do damage	cause harm or injury to something	The accident that happened yesterday did a lot of damage to the car.
CO26		make progress	move forward in a task or activity	My daughter is very bright. She is making progress hand over fist.
CO26		do a report	complete, perform a report	Jeniffer needs to do the report before the deadline.
CO27
CO27		make an attempt	try to do sth, especially sth difficult	If I asked him a specific question, he made an attempt to answer it.
CO27		make a decision	choose something after thinking about it	The time is fast approaching when we shall have to make a decision.
CO27		do the washing	wash the clothes	I do the washing and then I hang it out in the garden.
CO27		make an exception	allow a rule not to be followed	I wouldn't normally agree but I'll make an exception in this case.
CO27		make a sandwich	prepare a sandwich	She opened the package the same day to make a sandwich.
CO27		make a fortune	earn a great deal of money	He made a fortune buying old houses and fixing them up to sell.
CO27		do one's duty	do one's tasks or what is expected of one	The military court reprimanded her for failing to do her duty.
CO27		do sb a favour	do something for someone as an act of kindness	Could you do me a favour and get rid of this letter I've just received?
CO28
CO28		come into effect	come into force, start to apply	When will the new residence requirements come into effect?
CO28		come to light	become known or to be discovered	Some important evidence has come to light about the murder.
CO28		come as a surprise	make someone feel surprised	This limitation of static analysis should not come as a surprise.
CO28		come to a standstill	slow down and finally stop, to stop completely	All production will come to a standstill if the workers go on strike.
CO28		come under pressure	being made to feel forced to do something	The Labour government came under pressure from the trade unions.
CO28		get cold feet	suddenly become too frightened to do something	Even the best athletes can get cold feet before a big game.
CO28		get wind of	hear or find out about something secret or private	We'd better do something fast before the public gets wind of it.
CO28		get the hang of	earn the skills that are needed to do something	It is difficult for a foreigner to get the hang of English idioms.
CO28		get the sack	be dismissed suddenly from a job	Two two workers got the sack for fighting in the warehouse.
CO28		get rid of	relieve or free oneself of	Could you get rid of some of that clutter in your bedroom?
CO28		set a precedent	do something that establishes a standard, pattern	The judgment on pension rights has set a precedent.
CO28		set sail	begin a boat journey	Christopher Columbus set sail for the New World in the Santa Maria.
CO28		set eyes on	see sth or meet sb, especially for the first time	Most of them had never set eyes on white people before.
CO28		set foot in	go to a place	The moment I set foot in this house, my world turned upside down.
CO28		set an objective	say what you or sb else will or must try to achieve	It is very important to set objectives in the company.
CO28		take exception to	be angry or upset because of something	She takes exception to being addressed by her surname.
CO28		take pride in	feel pleased about, to be proud of	We take pride in our responsibilities as teachers in new China.
CO28		take priority over	be dealt with or done first	The search for a new vaccine took priority over all other research.
CO28		take a toll on	have a serious, bad effect on sb or sth	It's true that sleeping with a snorer can take a toll on your health.
CO28		take a dim view of	disapprove of something	The villagers take a dim view of people who try to impress them.
CO29
CO29		put paid to	finish or destroy something	A car accident put paid to her chances of taking part in the race.
CO29		put into words	express in speech or writing as well as thought	It's really hard to put into words how she feels now.
CO29		put on a brave face	try to appear brave or calm	I had to put on a brave face and try to show him I wasn't worried.
CO29		put the blame on	assign someone the blame for something	The spokesperson put the blame on the salesperson of the shop.
CO29		put effort into	try hard to do something	Let's try again Jack, only put more effort into it this time.
CO29		fall by the wayside	fail to complete something or be completed	Under evil social influence, some young people fell by the wayside.
CO29		fall to pieces	break apart, disintegrate or collapse	Her marriage began to fall to pieces after only a few years.
CO29		fall prey to	be influenced by someone or something	Children in this part of the world often fall prey to drug dealers.
CO29		fall on stony ground	(of words or a suggestion) be ignored	Her speech about the need for reform fell on stony ground.
CO29		fall from grace	lose favour or a position of power or honour	He was the head of the intelligence service until his fall from grace.
CO29		see the last of	see someone or something for the last time	Mark's an annoying man and I'll be glad to see the last of him.
CO29		see eye to eye	be in full agreement	They usually see eye to eye on the things that really matter.
CO29		see the light	understand sth you did not understand before	Maria finally saw the light and ended the relationship.
CO29		have seen better days	be old and in bad condition	My blue shirt is five years old, it has seen better days.
CO29		see sense/reason	be reasonable and have good judgment	I talked to him for an hour, but I couldn't make him see sense.
CO29		break new ground	do sth innovative that is regarded as an advance	The scheme says nothing new. It doesn't break new ground.
CO29		break the news	tell someone bad news	He didn't know how he was going to break the news to his sister.
CO29		break the law	do something that is illegal	I broke the law, and I must face the consequences of my actions.
CO29		break the spell	end a magical influence or enchantment	He needs to find a way to break the spell and win back his money.
CO29		break the silence	end a period of silence by talking or making a noise	Kate decided to break her silence about her son's suffering.
CO30
CO30		conduct an experiment	do an experiment	The scientific research institute has conducted many experiments.
CO30		incur costs/debts	pay money because of something you have done	The investors were forced to incur costs selling their shares.
CO30		hold water	appear to be valid, sound, or reasonable	Her demonstration of the deduction logic does not hold water.
CO30		crave attention	have a very strong feeling of wanting attention	I've never seen an artist so desperately crave attention.
CO30		stand your ground	stay where you are when someone threatens you	Mike is somebody who's really been able to stand his ground.
CO30		harbour a grudge	keep feelings of anger or resentment	Do you know anyone who might harbour a grudge against you?
CO30		flout the law	show that you have no respect for a law	Many bar owners flout the laws on under-age drinking.
CO30		boost confidence	make you feel more confident	The increase in capital allowances will also help to boost confidence.
CO30		grant access	give permission to see	She was finally granted access to the medical records.
CO30		divulge information	give someone information that should be secret	He refused to divulge any information regarding her whereabouts.
CO31
CO31		contract a disease	catch or become ill with a disease	Adam contracted the disease during his youth.
CO31		condone wrongdoing	accept behaviour that is morally wrong	We cannot condone the use of violence under any circumstances.
CO31		beggar (all) description	be impossible to believe or describe	My boss's incompetence is astounding. It beggars all description.
CO31		rig the ballot	control the results of the election dishonestly	They had not found any evidence of an attempt to rig the ballot.
CO31		nurse a grievance	keep feeling angry about a past wrong	She nurses a grievance against his employers for not promoting her.
CO31		shoulder the responsibility	accept a difficult or unpleasant responsibility	She has had to shoulder the responsibility of her mother's mistakes.
CO31		quench one's thirst	drink something to stop feeling thirsty	Fruit juices are excellent because they quench your thirst.
CO31		swallow one's pride	decide to do sth although it will embarrass you	Ann's going to have to swallow her pride and ask for her job back.
CO31		tender one's resignation	give notice that you will no longer be working	After due consideration, he has decided to tender his resignation.
CO31		endorse a candidate	express formal support for a candidate	The staff votes each year to endorse a candidate for editor-in-chief.
CO32
CO32		friendship	cools down | grows | strengthens | develops	Their friendship developed through their shared interest in the Arts.
CO32		crime	breeds | develops | rises | doubles	Organised crime more than doubled from 2010 to 2012.
CO32		rumour	flies around | spreads | gets about | circulates	There's a rumour flying around that you're thinking of leaving.
CO32		business	prospers | expands | flourishes | collapses	No new business can flourish in the present economic climate.
CO32		war	is declared | escalates | is waged | breaks out	The war escalated, on the ground, in the air, and at sea.
CO32		plan	backfires | succeeds | materialises | founders	Their plan backfired on them, and they lost all their money.
CO32		accident	takes place | happens | occurs	The accident took place about ten miles south of the Iraqi border.
CO32		time	passes | flies | drags | goes by	Time passes quickly when you are absorbed in reading a good book.
CO32		colour	fades | changes | matches | clashes with	All colours fade, especially under the impact of direct sunlight.
CO32		fire	flickers | spreads | dies down | crackles	The fire spread into the roof of an adjoining empty property.
CO33
CO33		pressure	builds up | increases | eases | falls	As the temperature rises, the pressure builds up inside the chamber.
CO33		sound	carries | echoes | travels | dies away	We know sound travels about one kilometre in three seconds.
CO33		water	drips | spurts | splashes | flows	The water flows from the tank by gravity to the houses below.
CO33		price	slumps | drops | skyrockets | soars	This success is paying economic dividends as oil prices skyrocket.
CO33		light	streams | reflects | shines | refracts	Normal rainbows form when light refracts through raindrops or mist.
CO33		industry	booms | declines | shrinks | springs up	Many shopkeepers suffered as the fishing industry declined.
CO33		crowd	gathers | cheers | roars | disperses	A crowd gathered around the speaker to hear what he had to say.
CO33		situation	develops | deteriorates | changes | arises	The situation arises in the context of callback functions.
CO33		pain	intensifies | disappears | wears off | begins	A few hours after the pain began to wear off.
CO33		symptom	persists | recur | worsens | occur	If symptoms persist, please consult your doctor.
CO37
CO37		pay a compliment	praise or commend someone	Some people find it difficult to pay a compliment directly.
CO37		achieve success	gain success as by hard work or effort	He struggled for five years to achieve success as a musician.
CO37		win a prize	win a reward that you get for being successful	I hope someday I can take part in a quiz show and win a prize!
CO37		defeat an opponent	win a victory over someone in a competition	They became the first team to defeat an opponent by 40 points.
CO37		break a promise	fail to do something you promised	He broke his promise and there wasn't a thing we could do about it.
CO37		take an exam	participate in a test to show knowledge	Applicants take an exam to measure basic mathematical skills.
CO37		save energy	prevent the loss or waste of energy	Everybody seems to have a plan to boost supply or save energy.
CO37		catch a cold	become infected with a cold	Having caught a cold today, she has to sing one octave lower.
CO37		chair a meeting	lead a meeting from start to finish	A woman who chairs a meeting is a chairwoman, never a chairman.
CO37		express feelings	give verbal or other expression to one's feelings	If you don't express your feelings, frustration can build up.
CO38
CO38		get an electric shock	get a discharge of electricity through your the body	You get an electric shock if you touch a live wire.
CO38		pay attention	take notice of someone or something	The teacher told the student to pay attention to his spelling.
CO38		break the law	do something that is illegal	Clearly, the police cannot break the law in order to enforce it.
CO38		take notes	write down notes, as during a lecture or interview	Do you usually take notes in class with a pen or pencil?
CO38		keep track of	have the latest information or knowledge about sth	It's difficult to keep track of all the new discoveries in medicine.
CO38		come into view	suddenly emerge or become visible	As he watched, the ship came into view from behind the berg.
CO38		hold the line	wait to speak to someone on the telephone	Hold the line , please, and I'll put you through.
CO38		bear the pain	accept or endure the pain	Helen was afraid she wouldn't be able to bear the pain.
CO38		save sb the trouble	avoid involving sb in useless or pointless effort	I'll make the appointment for you to save you the trouble.
CO38		launch a new product	introduce something new such as a product	The company is going to launch a new product in 2026.
CO39
CO39		have a good time	enjoy oneself or have a very enjoyable experience	I simply knew that I was going to have a good time this weekend.
CO39		take someone's place	replace someone	She bears a grudge against me because I took her place in the office.
CO39		break someone's heart	overwhelm someone with sadness	I know Tom broke your heart, but there are lots of guys out there.
CO39		catch sight of	notice something only for a moment	The woman caught sight of me and turned away.
CO39		pay someone a visit	go and see someone, usually for a short time	At first he thought of paying her a visit, but he changed his mind.
CO39		come to an end	become completed or exhausted	The cymbals crashed, and the symphony came to an end.
CO39		get a degree	successfully complete the required studies	Her plan is to get a degree in physics and then work abroad.
CO39		go on an excursion	go on a short trip usually made for pleasure	My class is going on an excursion to Niagara Falls next week.
CO39		fall into a trap	make a mistake that many people make	She never fell into the trap of making friends with her employees.
CO39		set a good example	behave in a way that other people should copy	Jennifer should be setting a good example to her younger sister.
CO40
CO40		catch a bus	get on a bus to travel somewhere	Bob walked down the street and caught a bus at the corner.
CO40		break a record	perform better than ever before	The athlete broke all the school records in swimming.
CO40		protect the environment	prevent the environment from being damaged	Public pressure to protect the environment is strong and growing.
CO40		come to terms with	gradually accept a sad situation	John's grieving family battled to come to terms with their loss.
CO40		pay the bill	pay all the costs for something	The gas company threatened to cut him off if he didn't pay the bill.
CO40		go for a ride	take a trip or journey in a vehicle	They invited us to get in the car and go for a ride with them.
CO40		have a rest	stop what you're doing to relax	No doubt she'll want to unpack and have a rest before dinner.
CO40		hold one's breath	cease breathing temporarily	Please breathe out slowly and then hold your breath.
CO40		lose consciousness	become unconscious	She lost consciousness at seven o'clock and died a few hours later.
CO40		book a ticket	pay for a journey or entry to a place	Eventually Tim plucked up courage and booked a ticket to Barcelona.
CO41
CO41		catch fire	start to burn or burst into flames	Do not stand too close to that stove. Your clothes may catch fire.
CO41		come under attack	be strongly criticized	The government has come under attack from opposition leaders.
CO41		break the rules	disobey a rule or agreement	I have no sympathy for him. He broke the rules and got caught.
CO41		pay by credit card	make a payment using a credit card	If you pay by credit card, the charge will reflect the exchange rate.
CO41		take a seat	sit down, become seated	Please take a seat - the manager will soon be here.
CO41		run a business	be in charge of a business	They told her that a woman should not run a business.
CO41		perform an operation	operate on a patient	Seeing that he was in danger, they decided to perform an operation.
CO41		visit a place	go to a place in order to look at it	I want to visit a place that is clean and attracts educated people.
CO41		achieve a goal	successfully accomplish or reach a goal	They cooperate closely to achieve a goal set by the community.
CO41		raise hopes	make someone feel more hopeful	The announcements raise hopes of ending this political crisis.
CO42
CO42		take hostage	capture somebody in order to get something	Three women were taken hostage during the bank robbery.
CO42		lose one's temper	fail to retain composure when angry	As the argument escalated, Ella lost her temper completely.
CO42		tell the truth	be frank, admit something	He suggested that he did not want me to tell the truth.
CO42		lodge a complaint	make a formal statement about something	If you wish to lodge a complaint you'd better get on to the manager.
CO42		lay the table	set the table	She laid the table, but it was no use preparing the salad yet.
CO42		serve a purpose	be useful or helpful in some way	These small village shops serve a very useful purpose.
CO42		have difficulty	have trouble doing something	She was clearly having difficulty in restraining herself.
CO42		gain control	get control	The party is expecting to gain control of the council soon.
CO42		stand trial	be put on trial in a law court	Two other men are to stand trial for their part in the bombing.
CO42		give birth	bear a child or young	His wife gave birth to their first child, and he was ecstatic about it.