2 N‑COUNT [N that] An idea is an opinion or belief about what something is like or should be like. □ [+ about ] Some of his ideas about democracy are entirely his own. □ …the idea that reading too many books ruins your eyes. [Also + on/of ]
3 N‑SING If someone gives you an idea of something, they give you information about it without being very exact or giving a lot of detail. □ [+ of ] This table will give you some idea of how levels of ability can be measured. □ [+ of ] If you cannot remember the exact date give a rough idea of when it was.
4 N‑SING If you have an idea of something, you know about it to some extent. □ No one has any real idea how much the company will make next year.
5 N‑SING [N that] If you have an idea that something is the case, you think that it may be the case, although you are not certain. [VAGUENESS ] □ I had an idea that he joined the army later, but I may be wrong.
6 N‑SING The idea of an action or activity is its aim or purpose. □ The idea is to encourage people to get to know their neighbours.
7 N‑COUNT If you have the idea of doing something, you intend to do it. □ [+ of ] He sent for a number of books he admired with the idea of re-reading them.
8 N‑SING You can use idea in expressions such as I've no idea or I haven't the faintest idea to emphasize that you do not know something. [EMPHASIS ] □ 'Is she coming by coach?'—'Well I've no idea.'
9 PHRASE If someone gets the idea , they understand how to do something or they understand what you are telling them. [INFORMAL ] □ It isn't too difficult once you get the idea. COLLOCATIONS idea NOUN
1
adjective + idea : bright, brilliant, good; creative, novel, original, radical
verb + idea : like, support; abandon, dismiss, reject; develop
3
adjective + idea : general, rough
ideal ◆◇◇ /a I diː əl/ (ideals )
1 N‑COUNT An ideal is a principle, idea, or standard that seems very good and worth trying to achieve. □ The party has drifted too far from its socialist ideals. [Also + of ]
2 N‑SING [oft poss N ] Your ideal of something is the person or thing that seems to you to be the best possible example of it. □ [+ of ] …the Japanese ideal of beauty.
3 ADJ The ideal person or thing for a particular task or purpose is the best possible person or thing for it. □ She decided that I was the ideal person to take over the job.
4 ADJ [ADJ n] An ideal society or world is the best possible one that you can imagine. □ We do not live in an ideal world. SYNONYMS ideal NOUN 1
principle: …moral principles.
morals: They have no morals.
scruple: …a man with no moral scruples.
standard: My father has always had high moral standards. ADJ 3
perfect: Hiring a nanny has turned out to be the perfect solution.
ultimate: He is the ultimate English gentleman.
modeclass="underline" As a girl she had been a model pupil.
ideal|ise /a I diː əla I z/ → see idealize
ideal|ism /a I diː əl I zəm/ N‑UNCOUNT Idealism is the beliefs and behaviour of someone who has ideals and who tries to base their behaviour on these ideals. □ [+ of ] She never lost her respect for the idealism of the 1960s. ● ideal|ist (idealists ) N‑COUNT □ He is not such an idealist that he cannot see the problems.
ideal|is|tic /a I diəl I st I k/ ADJ If you describe someone as idealistic , you mean that they have ideals, and base their behaviour on these ideals, even though this may be impractical. □ Idealistic young people died for the cause.
ideal|ize /a I diː əla I z/ (idealizes , idealizing , idealized ) in BRIT, also use idealise VERB If you idealize something or someone, you think of them, or represent them to other people, as being perfect or much better than they really are. □ [V n] People idealize the past. ● ideal|ized ADJ [usu ADJ n] □ …an idealised image of how a parent should be. ● ideali|za|tion /a I diː əla I ze I ʃ ə n/ (idealizations ) N‑VAR □ [+ of ] …Marie's idealisation of her dead husband.
ideal|ly /a I diː əli/
1 ADV If you say that ideally a particular thing should happen or be done, you mean that this is what you would like to happen or be done, but you know that this may not be possible or practical. □ People should, ideally, eat much less fat.
2 ADV [usu ADV -ed, oft ADV after v] If you say that someone or something is ideally suited, ideally located, or ideally qualified, you mean that they are as well suited, located, or qualified as they could possibly be. □ They were an extremely happy couple, ideally suited.
iden|ti|cal /a I de nt I k ə l/ ADJ Things that are identical are exactly the same. □ The two parties fought the last election on almost identical manifestos. ● iden|ti|cal|ly /a I de nt I kli/ ADV [usu ADV -ed/adj, oft ADV after v] □ …nine identically dressed female dancers.
ide n|ti|cal twi n (identical twins ) N‑COUNT [usu pl] Identical twins are twins of the same sex who look exactly the same.
iden|ti|fi|able /a I de nt I fa I əb ə l/ ADJ Something or someone that is identifiable can be recognized. □ [+ as ] In the corridor were four dirty, ragged bundles, just identifiable as human beings. [Also + by/from ]