Collins COBUILD Advanced Learner’s Dictionary

viru|lent /v I rjʊlənt/

1 ADJ [usu ADJ n] Virulent feelings or actions are extremely bitter and hostile. [FORMAL ] □  Now he faces virulent attacks from the Italian media. ●  viru|lent|ly ADV [usu ADV adj] □  The talk was virulently hostile to the leadership.

2 ADJ A virulent disease or poison is extremely powerful and dangerous. □  A very virulent form of the disease appeared in Belgium.

vi|rus ◆◇◇ /va I ə rəs/ (viruses )

1 N‑COUNT A virus is a kind of germ that can cause disease. □  There are many different strains of flu virus.

2 N‑COUNT In computer technology, a virus is a program that introduces itself into a system, altering or destroying the information stored in the system. [COMPUTING ]

visa /viː zə/ (visas ) N‑COUNT A visa is an official document, or a stamp put in your passport, which allows you to enter or leave a particular country. □  His visitor's visa expired. □  …an exit visa. □  …a tightening of U.S. visa requirements.

vis|age /v I z I dʒ/ (visages ) N‑COUNT [oft with poss] Someone's visage is their face. [LITERARY ] □  …his milky-white innocent visage.

vis-à-vis /viː z ɑː viː / PREP You use vis-à-vis when you are considering a relationship or comparison between two things or quantities. [FORMAL ] □  Each currency is given a value vis-à-vis the other currencies.

vis|cera /v I sərə/ N‑PLURAL Viscera are the large organs inside the body, such as the heart, liver, and stomach. [MEDICAL ]

vis|cer|al /v I sərəl/ ADJ [usu ADJ n] Visceral feelings are feelings that you feel very deeply and find it difficult to control or ignore, and that are not the result of thought. [LITERARY ] □  …the sheer visceral joy of being alive.

vis|cose /v I skoʊs/ N‑UNCOUNT [oft N n] Viscose is a smooth artificial fabric. [mainly BRIT ] □  …a black viscose floral dress. in AM, usually use rayon

vis|cos|ity /v I skɒ s I ti/ N‑UNCOUNT Viscosity is the quality that some liquids have of being thick and sticky. □ [+ of ] …the viscosity of the paint.

vis|count /va I kaʊnt/ (viscounts ) N‑COUNT ; N‑TITLE A viscount is a British nobleman who is below an earl and above a baron in rank. □  …a biography of Viscount Mourne.

vis|count|ess /va I kaʊnt I s/ (viscountesses ) N‑COUNT ; N‑TITLE A viscountess is the wife of a viscount or a woman who holds the same position as a viscount.

vis|cous /v I skəs/ ADJ A viscous liquid is thick and sticky. □  …dark, viscous blood.

vise /va I s/ → see vice 3

vis|ibil|ity /v I z I b I l I ti/

1 N‑UNCOUNT Visibility means how far or how clearly you can see in particular weather conditions. □  Visibility was poor.

2 N‑UNCOUNT If you refer to the visibility of something such as a situation or problem, you mean how much it is seen or noticed by other people. □  …the global visibility of the protests.

vis|ible ◆◇◇ /v I z I b ^ə l/

1 ADJ [usu v-link ADJ ] If something is visible , it can be seen. □  The warning lights were clearly visible. □ [+ to ] They found a bacterium visible to the human eye. [Also + from ]

2 ADJ You use visible to describe something or someone that people notice or recognize. □  The most visible sign of the intensity of the crisis is unemployment. □  He was making a visible effort to control himself. ●  vis|ibly /v I z I bli/ ADV [ADV with v, ADV adj] □  They emerged visibly distressed and weeping.

3 ADJ [ADJ n] In economics, visible earnings are the money that a country makes as a result of producing goods, rather than from services such as banking and tourism. [BUSINESS ] □  In the U.K. visible imports have traditionally been greater than visible exports. SYNONYMS visible ADJ 1

perceptible:Pasternak gave him a barely perceptible smile.