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opportunity verbs have opportunity • I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to travel. take/use opportunity (= do something you have a chance to do ) • Several employees took the opportunity to retire early. seize/grasp an opportunity (= do something very eagerly when you have the chance ) • She saw an opportunity to speak to him, and seized it. miss/lose an opportunity (= not do something you have a chance to do ) • Dwyer never missed an opportunity to criticize her. give somebody opportunity • The children should be given the opportunity to make their own choices. get an opportunity • I decided to go, as I might never get this opportunity again. provide/present/open up an opportunity • The course also provides an opportunity to study Japanese. an opportunity comes (along/up) • We had outgrown our house when the opportunity came up to buy one with more land. an opportunity arises • Perhaps she would explain later, if the opportunity arose. adjectives a good/great/wonderful etc opportunity • It's a great opportunity to try new things. the ideal/perfect opportunity • I'd been wanting to try sailing, and this seemed like the ideal opportunity. a golden opportunity (= a very good opportunity ) • The council has missed a golden opportunity to improve the town centre. a rare/unique opportunity • a unique opportunity to stay in a real castle a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity (= a very good opportunity that you will only get once ) • For many athletes, the Olympics are a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. a wasted/lost/missed opportunity (= one you do not use ) • Many people see the failed talks as a missed opportunity for peace. ample opportunity/plenty of opportunity (= a number of chances to do something ) • There will be ample opportunity for shopping. limited/little opportunity (= not many chances ) • They had little opportunity to discuss the issue beforehand. nouns a photo opportunity (= a chance to take a good photograph, especially of a particular person ) • Parents will always look for good photo opportunities at their kid's graduation ceremony. phrases at the first/earliest opportunity (= as soon as possible ) • He decided to leave school at the earliest opportunity. at every (possible) opportunity (= whenever possible ) • She went to the museum at every opportunity. a window of opportunity (= a time when you can do something ) • The other team started making mistakes, but we didn't take advantage of this window of opportunity. a land of opportunity (= a country where people have a lot of good opportunities ) • America was then seen as a land of opportunity. the opportunity of a lifetime (= a very good opportunity that you will only get once ) • The winner of the contest got the opportunity of a lifetime – the chance to work with a top fashion designer.
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noun ADJ. ample, considerable, plenty of We'll have plenty of opportunity to talk later. | limited, little, not much | excellent, favourable, golden, good, great, marvellous, tremendous, welcome, wonderful a golden opportunity to invest and export into new markets | exciting | ideal, perfect | suitable | reasonable We need to give them a reasonable opportunity to look at the display. | available | every Students should take every opportunity to widen their experience. | historic, once-in-a-lifetime, rare, unique, unparalleled, unprecedented, unrivalled | lost, missed, wasted | career, educational, employment, job, training | business, commercial, economic, investment, market, sales a missed sales opportunity | photo (= an opportunity to take photographs of famous or important people) | equal opportunities (= the principle of treating all people the same, regardless of sex. colour, etc.) an equal opportunities employer VERB + OPPORTUNITY have | find, get We didn't get much opportunity to swim. | afford, create, give sb, offer (sb), open up, provide (sb with) to provide better educational opportunities | grasp, seize, take (up), take advantage of May I take this opportunity to congratulate Ruth on her promotion. | lose, miss He lost no opportunity to vent his anger on those around him. | pass up OPPORTUNITY + VERB exist | arise, come, occur, offer When the opportunity came, I seized it with both hands. (formal) The company aimed to expand as and when opportunity offered. PREP. ~ for The job will offer you excellent opportunities for promotion. PHRASES at the earliest/first (possible) opportunity, at every (available) opportunity, equality of opportunity, the opportunity of a lifetime, a window of opportunity The ceasefire has created a window of opportunity to rescue the peace process.