2
general::
memory
adjectives
good/excellent
• I wish my memory was as good as yours.
bad/poor/terrible
• A student with a poor memory may struggle in school.
short-term memory
(= your ability to remember things that you have just seen, heard, or done )
• The drug can damage your short-term memory.
long-term memory
(= your ability to remember things that happened a long time ago )
• Most people's long-term memory is limited.
visual memory
(= your ability to remember things you have seen )
• Poor spellers often have a weak visual memory.
a photographic memory
(= the ability to remember every detail of things that you have seen )
• Unless you have a photographic memory, you forget half of what you read as soon as you close the book.
verbs
remain/stay/stick in your memory
(= be remembered for a long time )
• That day will remain in my memory forever.
refresh/jog your memory
(= help someone to remember something )
• Perhaps this photograph will refresh your memory?
lose your memory
(= become unable to remember things that happened in the past )
• The blow on the head caused him to lose his memory.
commit something to memory
formal (= make yourself remember something )
• I've already committed his name to memory.
phrases
have a short memory
(= if you have a short memory, you soon forget things )
• Voters have short memories.
have a long memory
(= if you have a long memory, you remember things for a long time )
• He has a long memory for people who have let him down.
have a memory like a sieve
(= forget things very easily )
• I'm sorry, I have a memory like a sieve. I forgot you were coming today!
loss of memory/memory loss
(= when you cannot remember things )
• The condition can cause dizziness and memory loss.
a lapse of memory/a memory lapse
(= when you cannot remember something for a short time )
• The alcohol seemed to make him suffer lapses of memory.
if my memory serves (me correctly/right)
(= used to say that you are almost certain you have remembered something correctly )
• If my memory serves me correctly, Johnson was also there.
something is etched in your memory
(= it is impossible to forget )
• The date was etched in my memory.
memory 2
ADJECTIVES/NOUN + memory
good/bad etc memories
• He left school with good memories of his time there.
happy/unhappy memories
• Many people have unhappy memories of being forced to play team sports.
fond memories
(= about someone or something you like )
• She had fond memories of her aunt and uncle.
a painful memory
(= very upsetting )
• He sobbed as he relived the painful memory.
a vivid memory
(= very clear and detailed )
• I have vivid memories of that summer.
a clear memory
• I have a clear memory of the first time I met David.
a dim/distant memory
(= not clear, from a long time ago )
• He had only dim memories of his father, who had died when he was four.
a vague memory
(= not clear )
• I have a vague memory of visiting them when I was small.
a childhood memory
• Going to the farm brought back happy childhood memories.
somebody's earliest memory
• My earliest memory is of being bitten by a dog.
an abiding/enduring/lasting memory
(= that you will always have )
• The children's abiding memory of their father is of his patience and gentleness.
verbs
have a/have no memory of something
(= remember/not remember something )
• She had no memory of the accident.
relive a memory
(= talk about past events so you remember them again )
• Seeing her again was an excuse to relive old memories.
bring back memories
( also rekindle/revive memories formal ) (= make you remember something )
• For many older people, the film brought back memories of the war.
memories come flooding back
(= you suddenly remember things clearly )
• Evelyn hugged her daughter, as memories came flooding back to her.
a memory fades
(= becomes less clear and accurate )
• Write down how you felt before the memory fades.
phrases
a place is full of memories
(= makes you remember things that happened there )
• My old home is full of unhappy memories.
be haunted by the memory of something
(= be unable to forget something unhappy )
• He is haunted by memories of his unhappy childhood.
shudder/wince at the memory of something
(= be upset by remembering something )
• She shuddered at the memory of her parents fighting.
transnet.ir
4
general::
noun ability to remember ADJ. excellent, good, long, prodigious, retentive | bad, poor, short | long-term, short-term His short-term memory was damaged in the accident. | visual Bad spellers have a weak visual memory. | photographic VERB + MEMORY jog, refresh Seeing your name in the paper jogged my memory. | lose Most people start to lose their memory as they get older. | commit sth to I committed the number to memory and threw the letter away. PREP. from ~ He recited the whole poem from memory. | ~ for I have a good memory for faces. PHRASES in living/recent memory the coldest winter in living memory thought of the past ADJ. childhood, early My earliest childhood memory is of falling in a pond in winter. | dim, distant, fading, hazy, vague | clear, vivid | affectionate, fond, good, happy, lovely, nostalgic, pleasant, positive, precious, sweet, warm, wonderful | bitter-sweet | bad, bitter, disturbing, embarrassing, horrific, painful, sad, traumatic, unhappy, unpleasant | abiding, enduring, lasting, lingering My abiding memory of our first meeting is of a girl too shy to talk. VERB + MEMORY bring back, evoke, rekindle, revive, stir (up) | blot out He tried to blot out his memories of the ordeal. MEMORY + VERB come flooding back, flood back When we visited my old family home, memories came flooding back. | fade PREP. in ~ of He planted some apple trees in memory of his wife. | ~ from Smells and tastes often evoke memories from the past. | ~ of fond memories of her childhood
Oxford Collocations Dictionary