3 N‑VAR Fat is a solid or liquid substance obtained from animals or vegetables, which is used in cooking. □ When you use oil or fat for cooking, use as little as possible. □ …vegetable fats, such as coconut oil and palm oil.
4 N‑VAR Fat is a substance contained in foods such as meat, cheese, and butter which forms an energy store in your body. □ An easy way to cut the amount of fat in your diet is to avoid eating red meats. □ Most low-fat yogurts are about 40 calories per 100g.
5 ADJ A fat object, especially a book, is very thick or wide. □ …'Europe in Figures', a fat book published on September 22nd.
6 ADJ [ADJ n] A fat profit or fee is a large one. [INFORMAL ] □ They are set to make a big fat profit.
7 PHRASE If you say that there is fat chance of something happening, you mean that you do not believe that it will happen. [INFORMAL , mainly SPOKEN , FEELINGS ] □ 'Would your car be easy to steal?'—'Fat chance. I've got a device that shuts down the ignition.' [Also + of ]
fa|tal /fe I t ə l/
1 ADJ A fatal action has very undesirable effects. □ It would clearly be fatal for Europe to quarrel seriously with America. □ He made the fatal mistake of compromising early. □ It would deal a fatal blow to his fading chances of success. ● fa|tal|ly ADV [ADV with v] □ Failure now could fatally damage his chances in the future.
2 ADJ A fatal accident or illness causes someone's death. □ A hospital spokesman said she had suffered a fatal heart attack. ● fa|tal|ly ADV [usu ADV with v] □ The dead soldier is reported to have been fatally wounded in the chest.
fa|tal|ism /fe I təl I zəm/ N‑UNCOUNT Fatalism is a feeling that you cannot control events or prevent unpleasant things from happening, especially when this feeling stops you from making decisions or making an effort. □ There's a certain mood of fatalism now among the radicals.
fa|tal|is|tic /fe I təl I st I k/ ADJ If someone is fatalistic about something, especially an unpleasant event or situation, they feel that they cannot change or control it, and therefore that there is no purpose in trying. □ [+ about ] People we spoke to today were really rather fatalistic about what's going to happen.
fa|tal|ity /fətæ l I ti/ (fatalities ) N‑COUNT A fatality is a death caused by an accident or by violence. [FORMAL ] □ Drunk driving fatalities have declined more than 10 percent over the past 10 years.
fa t cat (fat cats ) N‑COUNT If you refer to a businessman or politician as a fat cat , you are indicating that you disapprove of the way they use their wealth and power. [INFORMAL , BUSINESS , DISAPPROVAL ] □ …the fat cats who run the bank.
fate ◆◇◇ /fe I t/ (fates )
1 N‑UNCOUNT Fate is a power that some people believe controls and decides everything that happens, in a way that cannot be prevented or changed. You can also refer to the fates . □ I see no use quarrelling with fate. □ …the fickleness of fate. □ It was just one of those times when you wonder whether the fates conspire against you.
2 N‑COUNT [oft with poss] A person's or thing's fate is what happens to them. □ The Russian Parliament will hold a special session later this month to decide his fate. □ [+ of ] He seems for a moment to be again holding the fate of the country in his hands. □ The Casino, where she had often danced, had suffered a similar fate.
3 PHRASE If something seals a person's or thing's fate , it makes it certain that they will fail or that something unpleasant will happen to them. □ The call for a boycott could be enough to seal the fate of next week's general election.
4 to tempt fate → see tempt
fat|ed /fe I t I d/
1 ADJ [oft ADJ to-inf] If you say that a person is fated to do something, or that something is fated , you mean that it seems to have been decided by fate before it happens, and nothing can be done to avoid or change it. □ He was fated not to score. □ …stories of desperation, fated love, treachery and murder.
2 → see also ill-fated
fate|ful /fe I tfʊl/ ADJ [usu ADJ n] If an action or a time when something happened is described as fateful , it is considered to have an important, and often very bad, effect on future events. □ It was a fateful decision, one which was to break the Government.
fa|ther ◆◆◆ /fɑː ðə r / (fathers , fathering , fathered )
1 N‑COUNT Your father is your male parent. You can also call someone your father if he brings you up as if he was this man. You can call your father 'Father'. □ His father was a painter. □ He would be a good father to my children. □ …Mr Stoneman, a father of five.
2 VERB When a man fathers a child, he makes a woman pregnant and their child is born. □ [V n] She claims Mark fathered her child. □ [V n + by ] He fathered four children by different women.
3 N‑COUNT The man who invented or started something is sometimes referred to as the father of that thing. □ [+ of ] …Max Dupain, regarded as the father of modern photography.
4 N‑COUNT ; N‑TITLE In some Christian churches, priests are addressed or referred to as Father . COLLOCATIONS father NOUN 1
adjective + father : absent, biological, estranged, married; beloved, devoted, loving, proud
verb + father : become
Fa ther Chri st|mas N‑PROPER Father Christmas is the name given to an imaginary old man with a long white beard and a red coat. Traditionally, young children in many countries are told that he brings their Christmas presents. [BRIT ] in AM, use Santa Claus