Collins COBUILD Advanced Learner's English Dictionary - usual

Frequency: The word is one of the 1500 most common words in English. 1. Usual is used to describe what happens or what is done most often in a particular situation. It is a neighborhood beset by all the usual inner-city problems... She’s smiling her usual friendly smile... After lunch there was a little more clearing up to do than usual... It is usual to tip waiters, porters, guides and drivers. = normal ADJ: det ADJ, v-link ADJ, oft it v-link ADJ to-inf • Usual is also a noun. The stout barman in a bow tie presented himself to take their order. ‘Good morning, sir. The usual?’ N-SING: the N 2. You use as usual to indicate that you are describing something that normally happens or that is normally the case. As usual there will be the local and regional elections on June the twelfth... The front pages are, as usual, a mixture of domestic and foreign news. PHRASE: PHR with cl 3. If something happens as usual, it happens in the way that it normally does, especially when other things have changed. When somebody died everything went on as usual, as if it had never happened... PHRASE: PHR after v 4. business as usual: see business