Collins COBUILD Advanced Learner's English Dictionary - away

Frequency: The word is one of the 700 most common words in English. Note: 'Away' is often used with verbs of movement, such as ‘go’ and ‘drive’, and also in phrasal verbs such as ‘do away with’ and ‘fade away’. 1. If someone or something moves or is moved away from a place, they move or are moved so that they are no longer there. If you are away from a place, you are not in the place where people expect you to be. An injured policeman was led away by colleagues... He walked away from his car... She drove away before either of them could speak again... Jason was away on a business trip... ADV: ADV after v, be ADV, oft ADV prep 2. If you look or turn away from something, you move your head so that you are no longer looking at it. She quickly looked away and stared down at her hands... As he stands up, he turns his face away from her so that she won’t see his tears. ADV: ADV after v, oft ADV prep 3. If you put or tidy something away, you put it where it should be. If you hide someone or something away, you put them in a place where nobody can see them or find them. I put my journal away and prepared for bed... All her letters were carefully filed away in folders... I have $100m hidden away where no one will ever find it. ADV: ADV after v 4. If something is away from a person or place, it is at a distance from that person or place. The two women were sitting as far away from each other as possible... ...country estate thirty miles away from town. PREP-PHRASE 5. You use away to talk about future events. For example, if an event is a week away, it will happen after a week. ...the Washington summit, now only just over two weeks away... ADV: be amount ADV 6. When a sports team plays away, it plays on its opponents’ ground. ...a sensational 4-3 victory for the team playing away. ADV: ADV after v • Away is also an adjective. Charlton are about to play an important away match. ADJ: ADJ n 7. You can use away to say that something slowly disappears, becomes less significant, or changes so that it is no longer the same. So much snow has already melted away... His voice died away in a whisper... ADV: ADV after v 8. You use away to show that there has been a change or development from one state or situation to another. There’s been a dramatic shift away from traditional careers towards business and commerce. ADV: ADV after v, n ADV, oft ADV prep 9. You can use away to emphasize a continuous or repeated action. He would often be working away on his word processor late into the night... ADV: ADV after v c darkgreen]emphasis 10. You use away to show that something is removed. The waitress whipped the plate away and put down my bill... ADV: ADV after v 11. far and away: see far right away: see right