·adversity, effort., .feeling, .opposition, weakness misc help., must., able., difficult.
10913 | 0.95 A
virus n
adj human, deadly, cold, positive, live, lethal, specific, known noun AIDS., bacteria, computer., flu., influenza., infection, hepatitis., cell, immunodeficiency., disease verb cause, infect, spread, carry, kill, contract., transmit, attack, .mutate 11441 | 0.91
stranger n
adj total, complete, perfect, mysterious, handsome, tall, intimate, familiar, gentle, passing noun friend, kindness., eye, street, face, group, .town, sex, ·controversy, .train verb talk., meet, stare, approach, share, welcome, trust., sleep, introduce, touch 11232 | 0.93 F
retain v
noun .control, .power, .right, student, ability, .water, ·moisture, .information, .identity, .employee, .heat, interest, memory, .status, .title misc while., still., attract., .original, able.
11187 | 0.93 A
match n
adj perfect, good, shouting, better, exact, final, close, waterproof noun winner, wrestling., soccer., .play, tennis., boxing., cup., box., championship verb win., find, light, strike., lose, meet., prove, .burn, .last, touch 11140 | 0.93
prize n
adj grand, big, top, international, prestigious, ultimate, literary, coveted, nifty noun .winner, peace., ·money, year, award, .physics, cash., .literature, consolation., .chemistry verb win., receive., offer, share., earn., claim., honor, .total, .elude 10944 | 0.95
string n
adj long, consecutive, thin, endless, broken, knotted, unbroken noun .quartet, .theory, .bean, purse., bead, ·pearl, guitar, piece., instrument, band verb pull., ·attach, tie, hold, hang, cut, pluck., stretch, vibrate, control. 10986 | 0.95
exhibition n
adj international, major, recent, annual, traveling, current, retrospective noun art, museum, .game, gallery, work, .space, works, solo., artist, painting verb include, organize, open, present, feature, mount, ·entitle, enter, accompany, represent 12767 | 0.81 M
expansion n
adj economic, rapid, major, far, international, future, global, existing, industrial, urban noun .team, universe, plan, program, rate, .franchise, market, trade, growth, period. verb support., cause, oppose., finance., slow, limit., increase, prevent., halt., accelerate 11351 | 0.91 A
tremendous j
noun amount, pressure, impact, opportunity, power, growth, number, change, energy, problem, success,
support misc there, create, under, cause, because, economic, generate, financial
11013 | 0.94 S
bunch n
adj whole, wild, fresh, diverse, rowdy, lively, friendly noun .people, .guy, .kid, .thing, .stuff, .grape, .flower, ·money verb buy., hang, throw, gather, sound., score., hand., hire.
11109 | 0.93
assistant n
adj special, personal, administrative, digital, editorial, medical, top, dental, legislative noun research., deputy., .secretary, .president, teaching., graduate., executive., physician. verb serve., hire., employ, train, ·handle, assign, .administer, .hand, appoint., instruct 10976 | 0.94
initially r
least, at, although., appear, .refuse, .focus, .oppose, ·skeptical, .resist, .identify, .reluctant, .intend, .attract, design
11106 | 0.93 A
accurate j
noun information, description, picture, assessment, data, count, prediction, measurement, estimate, way, diagnosis, representation misc more, most, provide, less, fair, complete, highly
11036 | 0.94 A
cheek n
adj left, pink, right, pale, round, hot, sunken, smooth, full, flushed noun tear., hand, eye, lip, kiss., hair, nose, color, tongue., forehead verb touch., turn, run., feel, roll., press, brush., stroke., rub., puff
12061 | 0.86 F
index n
adj composite, fit, right, economic, major, leading, body-mass, various noun .finger, .fund, price., stock, consumer., body., mass., .card verb .rise, measure, .fall, provide, calculate, .close, track, .drop, .indicate, .gain
11540 | 0.90 A
occupy v
noun .position, space, place, land, territory, house, building, room, mind, country, office, center, Iraq, troop, force misc .by, .same, once., .central, .entire
10952 | 0.95
gear n
adj high, low, protective, full, outdoor, electronic, shifting, high-tech, switching, running noun fishing., landing., .photography, car, camping., rain., bag, type, ·ratio, riot. verb shift., put., switch., wear., carry, kick., pack., change., grind, haul. 11907 | 0.87 M
guarantee v
noun right, loan, .accuracy, security, constitution, ·success, .safety, law, government, freedom, job, amendment, protection, .access, health misc will, can., virtually., million, .equal, order., necessarily., practically. 10833 | 0.95
chocolate n
adj hot, dark, white, bittersweet, rich, melted, unsweetened noun .cake, .chip, milk, .cookie, cream, ·bar, cup, butter, ice, .mousse verb melt, eat., stir, add, pour, buy, drink., contain, taste, spread
11324 | 0.91 M
22. American vs. British English
The Corpus of Contemporary American English (COCA: http://www.americancorpus.org
) is the largest balanced corpus of American English, and the British National Corpus (BNC; http://www.natcorp.ox.ac.uk/
) is the largest, balanced corpus of British English. This list shows the difference in vocabulary in these two corpora, and is based on the implementation of the BNC found at http://corpus.byu.edu/bnc.
Some of the differences in vocabulary in the two dialects are related to culture, society, politics, or current events (e.g. Am Republican, congressional, baseball, Iraqi; Br Tory, parliamentary, Victorian), some are Just different words for the "same" concept (e.g. store/shop, attorney/solicitor, apartment/flat, mom/mum), and some words in COCA (1990-2008) refer to things that are too new to have made it into the pre-1993 BNC (e.g. web, Internet, high-tech, online).
+American (COCA) / -British (BNC)
The following are Just a sampling of the words that are much more common in COCA than in the BNC. In all cases, the word is at least twice as far down the list in the BNC wordlist as in COCA (e.g. #2000 in COCA, #5000 in BNC).