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noun between people/groups/countries ADJ. friendly, good, happy, harmonious, healthy, strong | broken, difficult, failed, fragile, poor, stormy, strained, troubled, uneasy | close, intense, intimate, special Britain's special relationship with the US | enduring, lasting, long-standing, long-term, permanent, serious, stable, steady He was not married, but he was in a stable relationship. | brief, casual | family, human, interpersonal, one-to-one, personal | doctor-patient, parent-child, etc. | business, contractual, formal, marital, physical, power, professional, sexual, social, working | caring, love-hate, loving VERB + RELATIONSHIP enjoy, have They enjoyed a close working relationship. The school has a very good relationship with the community. He had brief relationships with several women. | begin, build (up), develop, establish, foster Building strong relationships is essential. They established a relationship of trust. | cement, improve, strengthen | continue, maintain | handle, manage He's not very good at handling personal relationships. | break off She broke off the relationship when she found out about his gambling. | destroy Lack of trust destroys many relationships. RELATIONSHIP + VERB exist We want to improve the relationship that exists between the university and the town. | blossom, deepen, develop | flourish | work I tried everything to make our relationship work. | continue, last | deteriorate, go wrong, worsen | break down, break up, fail RELATIONSHIP + NOUN difficulties, problems | goals PREP. in a/the ~ In normal human relationships there has to be some give and take. At the moment he isn't in a relationship. | ~ among The focus is on relationships among European countries. | ~ between, ~ to their relationship to each other | ~ with PHRASES the breakdown of a relationship, a network/web of relationships family connection ADJ. blood, family, kin, kinship PREP. in a/the ~ Some people think only about themselves, even in family relationships. | ~ between ‘What's the relationship between you and Tony?’ ‘He's my cousin.’ | ~ to What relationship are you to Pat? connection between two or more things ADJ. close There's a close relationship between increased money supply and inflation. | direct | clear | complex | significant | true | particular | inverse, negative the inverse relationship between gas consumption and air temperature | positive | causal, dynamic, reciprocal | linear, spatial | economic, functional, legal | natural, organic | symbolic VERB + RELATIONSHIP bear, have The fee bears little relationship to the service provided. | examine, explore, look at, study His latest book examines the relationship between spatial awareness and mathematical ability. | discover, find They discovered a relationship between depression and lack of sunlight. | demonstrate, show | see, understand | stand in Women and men stand in a different relationship to language. PREP. in a/the ~ The different varieties of the language are in a dynamic relationship with each other. | ~ between I can't see the relationship between the figures and the diagram. | ~ to the relationship of a parasite to its host | ~ with PHRASES the nature of the relationship
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relationship when two people spend time together or live together because they are romantically or sexually attracted to each other: • After her marriage broke up, she had a series of disastrous relationships. • relationship with: I don’t want to start a relationship with her, because I’m going back to South Africa. • relationship between: Relationships between people of different cultures are often extremely difficult. • be in a relationship: Why are all the interesting men I meet already in relationships? • sexual relationship: Several of the psychiatrists admitted to having sexual relationships with patients. • romantic relationship: Even at 35, Bobby seemed unable to commit to a romantic relationship. affair a secret sexual relationship between two people, when one or both of them is married to someone else: • The affair had been going on for years before her husband found out. • affair with: I had no idea that Mike had an affair with Carolyn! • love affair: Burton had been involved in a love affair with a woman who ended up taking most of his money. fling a short and not very serious relationship: • Yes, I did go out with him, but it was just a fling. • She wasn’t interested in anything more than a casual fling. • fling with: She left her husband after she learned about his fling with an exotic dancer. • have a fling: They had a fling years ago. romance an exciting and often short relationship between two people who feel very much in love with each other: • It was a beautiful summer romance, but they knew it couldn’t last. • Richard and Penny had made no great secret of their romance, even though they were both married. • romance with: My romance with Lois did not survive our high school graduation.