Collins COBUILD Advanced Learner’s Dictionary

7 N‑UNCOUNT [n N ] Value is used after another noun when mentioning an important or noticeable feature about something. □  The script has lost all of its shock value over the intervening 24 years.

8 → see also face value SYNONYMS value NOUN 1

importance:We have always stressed the importance of economic reform.

usefulness:His interest lay in the usefulness of his work, rather than in any personal credit.

benefit:For maximum benefit, use your treatment every day.

merit:The argument seemed to have considerable merit.

advantage:A good crowd will be a definite advantage to me and the rest of the team.

va lue-a dded tax also value added tax N‑UNCOUNT Value-added tax is a tax that is added to the price of goods or services. The abbreviation VAT is also used. [BRIT ]

va lue judg|ment (value judgments ) in BRIT, also use value judgement N‑COUNT If you make a value judgment about something, you form an opinion about it based on your principles and beliefs and not on facts which can be checked or proved. □ [+ about ] Social scientists have grown extremely unwilling to make value judgments about cultures.

value|less /væ ljuːləs/ ADJ If you describe something as valueless , you mean that it is not at all useful. □  Such attitudes are valueless unless they reflect inner cognition and certainty. □  …commercially valueless trees.

valu|er /væ ljuːə ^r / (valuers ) N‑COUNT A valuer is someone whose job is to estimate the cost or value of something, for example a house, or objects that are going to be sold in an auction. [BRIT ] in AM, use appraiser

va lue sys|tem (value systems ) N‑COUNT The value system of a group of people is the set of beliefs and attitudes that they all share.

valve /væ lv/ (valves )

1 N‑COUNT A valve is a device attached to a pipe or a tube which controls the flow of air or liquid through the pipe or tube.

2 N‑COUNT A valve is a small piece of tissue in your heart or in a vein which controls the flow of blood and keeps it flowing in one direction only. □  He also has problems with a heart valve.

3 → see also safety valve

vamp /væ mp/ (vamps ) N‑COUNT If you describe a woman as a vamp , you mean that she uses her sexual attractiveness to get what she wants from men. [DISAPPROVAL ]

vam|pire /væ mpa I ə ^r / (vampires ) N‑COUNT A vampire is a creature in legends and horror stories. Vampires are said to come out of graves at night and suck the blood of living people.

va m|pire ba t (vampire bats ) N‑COUNT A vampire bat is a bat from South America which feeds by sucking the blood of other animals.

van ◆◇◇ /væ n/ (vans )

1 N‑COUNT A van is a small or medium-sized road vehicle with one row of seats at the front and a space for carrying goods behind.

2 N‑COUNT A van is a railway carriage, often without windows, which is used to carry luggage, goods, or mail. [BRIT ] □  In the guard's van lay my tin trunk. in AM, use baggage car , boxcar

van|dal /væ nd ^ə l/ (vandals ) N‑COUNT A vandal is someone who deliberately damages things, especially public property.

van|dal|ise /væ ndəla I z/ → see vandalize

van|dal|ism /væ ndəl I zəm/ N‑UNCOUNT Vandalism is the deliberate damaging of things, especially public property. □  …acts of vandalism.

van|dal|ize /væ ndəla I z/ (vandalizes , vandalizing , vandalized ) in BRIT, also use vandalise VERB If something such as a building or part of a building is vandalized by someone, it is damaged on purpose. □ [be V -ed] The walls had been horribly vandalized with spray paint. □ [V n] About 1,000 rioters vandalized buildings and looted stores.

vane /ve I n/ (vanes )

1 N‑COUNT A vane is a flat blade which pushes or is pushed by wind or water, and forms part of a machine such as a fan, a windmill, or a ship's propeller.