(1) His treatment was a combination of surgery, radiation and drugs.
(2) What an unusual combination of flavours!
(3) Technology and good management. That's a winning combination (= one that will certainly be successful) .

(1) a three-pin plug
(2) I'll have to change the plug on my hairdryer.
(3) Can I use this plug for my iron?

(1) New japanese cars averaged 13 km to the litre in 1981.
(2) The loch's overflow cascades into the waterfalls of a japanese water garden.
(3) He is quite at home with the japanese language.

(1) The scientist could not calculate when the spaceship would reach the Jupiter.
(2) It takes about three days to travel from From Earth to the moon by spaceship.
(3) In future, astronauts will be required to descend from a spaceship while it is still in space and return to it.

(1) a reporter from the New York Times
(2) a crime reporter
(3) ...a TV reporter.

(1) There aren't enough books for everyone to have one each.
(2) They lost $40 each.
(3) each day that passed he grew more and more desperate.

(1) ‘Are you really an artist? ’ Sara asked curiously.
(2) His clothes were curiously old-fashioned.
(3) curiously enough, a year later exactly the same thing happened again.

(1) ...a barber's shop in south London.
(2) My Mum took me to the barber's.
(3) The barber thinned out his customer's thick hair.

(1) domestically produced goods
(2) The police were called to sort out a domestic.
(3) I'm not a very domestic sort of person.

(1) I've just had a tooth out at the dentist's.
(2) to brush/clean your teeth
(3) tooth decay

(1) She seemed neither surprised nor worried.
(2) He wasn't there on Monday. nor on Tuesday, for that matter.
(3) (formal)Not a building nor a tree was left standing.

(1) A lack of qualifications can be a major obstacle to finding a job.
(2) So far, we have managed to overcome all the obstacles that have been placed in our path.
(3) The area was full of streams and bogs and other natural obstacles.

(1) This young man is wearing a limp grey sweater.
(2) Ann, put on your sweater; you're so cold you have gooseflesh on your arms.
(3) She is good at knitting a sweater.

(1) He was seen as a traitor to the socialist cause.
(2) She denied that she had turned traitor (= become a traitor ) .
(3) Some say he's a traitor to the working class.

(1) a work of outstanding artistic merit
(2) The plan is entirely without merit.
(3) I want to get the job on merit .

(1) cherry/orange/apple blossom
(2) The trees are in blossom .
(3) She has visibly blossomed over the last few months.

(1) Someone had forged her signature on the cheque.
(2) They collected 10 000 signatures for their petition.
(3) He was attacked for having put his signature to the deal.

(1) Mining can be costly in terms of lives (= too many people can die) .
(2) a costly mistake/failure
(3) Buying new furniture may prove too costly.

(1) It beggars belief how things could have got this bad.
(2) Why should I beggar myself for you?
(3) Aren't you dressed yet, you lazy beggar?

(1) He never drinks alcohol.
(2) alcohol abuse
(3) Wine contains about 10% alcohol.

(1) a French grammar
(2) bad grammar
(3) English grammar

(1) The far right is now a greater threat than the extreme left...
(2) Anti-racist campaigners are urging the Government to ban all far-Right groups.
(3) It only lasted a couple of years, as far as I know...

(1) acute/intense/deep anxiety
(2) Some hospital patients experience high levels of anxiety.
(3) If you're worried about your health, share your anxieties with your doctor.

(1) We are looking for someone who is reliable and hard-working.
(2) a reliable friend
(3) My car's not as reliable as it used to be.

(1) to obey a command/an order/rules/the law
(2) He had always obeyed his parents without question.
(3) ‘Sit down! ’ Meekly, she obeyed.

(1) The government has been storing radioactive waste at Fernald for 50 years.
(2) It is the product of radioactive decay ( see radioactivity ) and is used in helium dating.
(3) This example illustrates the great sensitivity of the radioactivity method.

(1) They're very odd people.
(2) There's something odd about that man.
(3) It's most odd that (= very odd that) she hasn't written.

(1) Two boys were in the street, tossing a baseball back and forth.
(2) I'm a few miles back from the border...
(3) Her hair was tied back...

(1) She was proved right, in dramatic fashion, when the whole department resigned.
(2) She's been spending money like it's going out of fashion.
(3) She fashioned a pot from the clay.

(1) Sarah and Ella have been friends for seven years.
(2) Cranes take from four to seven years to mature before they pair up.
(3) She is one of those women who always make the worst of their troubles.

(1) a silk blouse
(2) silk stockings
(3) made of pure silk

(1) mobile equipment
(2) a mobile shop/library (= one inside a vehicle)
(3) a kitchen especially designed for the elderly or people who are less mobile

(1) The government imposed a ban on tobacco advertising (= the advertising of cigarettes and all other forms of tobacco ) .
(2) Try to do without tobacco and alcohol...
(3) I believe it is time to ban tobacco advertising altogether.

(1) financial services
(2) to give financial advice
(3) to be in financial difficulties

(1) a major road
(2) major international companies
(3) to play a major role in sth

(1) to amplify a guitar/an electric current/a signal
(2) She refused to amplify further.
(3) You may need to amplify this point.

(1) Young children will usually compete for their mother's attention.
(2) Small traders cannot compete in the face of cheap foreign imports.
(3) He's hoping to compete in the London marathon.

(1) the gulf States (= the countries with coasts on the gulf)
(2) The gulf between rich and poor is enormous.
(3) the gulf of Mexico

(1) In spite of his disappointment, he managed a weak smile.
(2) I don't know exactly how we'll manage it , but we will, somehow.
(3) Can you manage another piece of cake? (= eat one)

(1) Which planets can sustain life?
(2) The love and support of his family sustained him during his time in prison.
(3) a period of sustained economic growth