(1) a period of rapid economic expansion
(2) Despite the recession the company is confident of further expansion.
(3) The book is an expansion of a series of lectures given last year.

(1) Consider setting the background color to white andcolor to black with CSS.
(2) The Prime Minister has made a statement closely approximate to a falsehood.
(3) The company is in a position closely analogous to that of its main rival.

(1) a marble/stone/wooden staircase
(2) They walked down the staircase together.
(3) The blind man felt along the wall for the staircase.

(1) That is no way to treat another human being.
(2) It's only human to want the best for your children.
(3) He's really very human when you get to know him.

(1) (British English,formal)Are you being attended to, Sir? (= for example, in a shop)
(2) A nurse attended to his needs constantly.
(3) I have some urgent business to attend to.

(1) Every file on the same disk must have a different name.
(2) secret police files
(3) to have/open/keep a confidential file on sb

(1) Everyone should enjoy the right of access to the countryside.
(2) The surrounding countryside is windswept and rocky.
(3) magnificent views over open countryside

(1) a comfortable 2–0 win
(2) The party won with a comfortable majority.
(3) It's such a comfortable bed.

(1) a married man/woman
(2) Is he married?
(3) a happily married couple

(1) The job requires skill and an eye for detail.
(2) What made him remarkable as a photographer was his skill in capturing the moment.
(3) We need people with practical skills like carpentry.

(1) It wasn't cheap. anything but.
(2) He isn't anything like my first boss.
(3) Is there anything (= any truth) in these rumours?

(1) Christmas eve (= 24 December)
(2) a New Year's eve party (= on 31 December)
(3) on the eve of the election

(1) an airline pilot
(2) a fighter pilot
(3) The accident was caused by pilot error.

(1) orange peel
(2) an orange tree
(3) freshly squeezed orange juice

(1) headquarters in Dublin has/have agreed.
(2) police headquarters
(3) I'm now based at headquarters.

(1) She was delivered of a healthy boy.
(2) He delivered the blow (= hit sb hard) with all his force.
(3) The baby was delivered by Caesarean section.

(1) She stiffened with fear.
(2) I stiffened my back and faced him.
(3) My muscles had stiffened up after the climb.

(1) More and more travelers are looking for bed and breakfast accommodations in private homes.
(2) They were forced to reach an accommodation with the rebels.
(3) First-class accommodation is available on all flights.

(1) It took a lot of bottle to do that.
(2) The wines are bottled after three years.
(3) bottled beer/water/pickles

(1) conventionally dressed
(2) conventionally grown food (= grown according to conventional methods)
(3) a conventional power station (= using oil or coal as fuel, rather than nuclear power)

(1) It grieved her to leave.
(2) Their lack of interest grieved her.
(3) It grieved him that he could do nothing to help her.

(1) manual labour/jobs/skills
(2) manual and non-manual workers
(3) a manual gearbox

(1) a pair of grey trousers
(2) I was still in short trousers (= still only a boy) at the time.
(3) He dropped his trousers.

(1) the prison yard
(2) The children were playing in the yard at the front of the school.
(3) a boat yard

(1) a soup spoon
(2) a wooden spoon
(3) She spooned the sauce over the chicken pieces.

(1) Let's wait until the rain stops.
(2) until she spoke I hadn't realized she wasn't English.
(3) You're not going out until you've finished this.

(1) unfair criticism
(2) It seems unfair on him to make him pay for everything.
(3) It would be unfair not to let you have a choice.

(1) to repair a car/roof/road/television
(2) It's almost 15 years old. It isn't worth having it repaired .
(3) It was too late to repair the damage done to their relationship.

(1) When do you have dinner ?
(2) What time do you serve dinner?
(3) Let's invite them to dinner tomorrow.

(1) sticky fingers covered in jam
(2) Stir in the milk to make a soft but not sticky dough.
(3) a sticky situation

(1) She was sitting importantly behind a big desk.
(2) More importantly, can he be trusted?
(3) He likes to feel important.

(1) News of the scandal certainly hastened his departure from office.
(2) He has been described as a ‘charmless bore ’─not by me, I hasten to add .
(3) The treatment she received may, in fact, have hastened her death.

(1) We are not far from my home now.
(2) stray dogs needing new homes
(3) (figurative)We haven't found a home for all our books yet (= a place where they can be kept) .

(1) I must write and thank Mary for the present.
(2) There's no need to thank me─I enjoyed doing it.
(3) In his speech, he thanked everyone for all their hard work.

(1) Let me, by way of illustration , quote from one of her poems.
(2) The statistics are a clear illustration of the point I am trying to make.
(3) 50 full-colour illustrations

(1) She spat the name out like an insult.
(2) Forgive me, I don't mean to insult you.
(3) He felt the smart of their insult for many days.

(1) unfortunately, I won't be able to attend the meeting.
(2) I can't make it, unfortunately.
(3) unfortunately for him, the police had been informed and were waiting outside.

(1) the temptation of easy profits
(2) to give way to/yield to temptation
(3) I couldn't resist the temptation to open the letter.

(1) This drink doesn't contain any alcohol.
(2) Her statement contained one or two inaccuracies.
(3) a brown envelope containing dollar bills

(1) the mouth (= the entrance) of the cave
(2) a cave-dweller (= a person who lives in a cave )
(3) The ceiling suddenly caved in on top of them.