Collins COBUILD Advanced Learner’s Dictionary

4 VERB To admit someone to a place means to allow them to enter it. □ [V n] Embassy security personnel refused to admit him or his wife. □ [be V -ed + to ] Journalists are rarely admitted to the region. SYNONYMS admit VERB 1

confess:He had confessed to seventeen murders.

own up:The headmaster is waiting for someone to own up.

allow:Warren also allows that capitalist development may result in increased social inequality. COLLOCATIONS admit VERB 1

admit+ noun : guilt, liability, responsibility, wrongdoing; defeat; error, mistake; charge, offence; assault, fraud, manslaughter, murder, theft

admit+ adverb : privately, publicly; candidly, cheerfully, freely, openly, readily; grudgingly, reluctantly, ruefully, sheepishly

ad|mit|tance /ædm I t ^ə ns/ N‑UNCOUNT Admittance is the act of entering a place or institution or the right to enter it. □ [+ into/to ] We had not been able to gain admittance to the flat.

ad|mit|ted|ly /ædm I t I dli/ ADV You use admittedly when you are saying something which weakens the importance or force of your statement. □  It's only a theory, admittedly, but the pieces fit together.

ad|mix|ture /ædm I kstʃə ^r / N‑SING Admixture means the same as mixture . [FORMAL ] □ [+ of ] …an admixture of fact and fantasy.

ad|mon|ish /ædmɒ n I ʃ/ (admonishes , admonishing , admonished ) VERB If you admonish someone, you tell them very seriously that they have done something wrong. [FORMAL ] □ [V n + for ] They admonished me for taking risks with my health. □ [V n with quote] She admonished him gently, 'You should rest, not talk so much.' [Also V n, V n to-inf] ●  ad|mon|ish|ment (admonishments ) N‑VAR □  Sometimes he gave them a severe admonishment.

ad|moni|tion /æ dmən I ʃ ^ə n/ (admonitions ) N‑VAR An admonition is a warning or criticism about someone's behaviour. [FORMAL ] □ [+ of ] She ignored the admonitions of her mother.

a d nau |seam PHRASE If someone does something ad nauseam , they do it repeatedly and over a long period of time so that it becomes annoying or boring. □  We discussed it ad nauseam.

ado /əduː / PHRASE If you do something without further ado or without more ado , you do it at once and do not discuss or delay it any longer. [OLD-FASHIONED ] □  'And now, without further ado, let me introduce our benefactor.'

ado|be /ədoʊ bi/ N‑UNCOUNT [usu N n] Adobe is a mixture of mud and straw that is dried into bricks in the sun and used for building, especially in hot countries. □  …a few blocks of adobe houses.

ado|les|cence /æ dəle s ^ə ns/ N‑UNCOUNT Adolescence is the period of your life in which you develop from being a child into being an adult. □  Some people become very self-conscious in adolescence.

ado|les|cent /æ dəle s ^ə nt/ (adolescents ) ADJ [usu ADJ n] Adolescent is used to describe young people who are no longer children but who have not yet become adults. It also refers to their behaviour. □  It is important that an adolescent boy should have an adult in whom he can confide. ● N‑COUNT An adolescent is an adolescent boy or girl. □  Young adolescents are happiest with small groups of close friends.

adopt ◆◆◇ /ədɒ pt/ (adopts , adopting , adopted )

1 VERB If you adopt a new attitude, plan, or way of behaving, you begin to have it. □ [V n] Parliament adopted a resolution calling for the complete withdrawal of troops. [Also V n as n] ●  adop|tion /ədɒ pʃ ^ə n/ N‑UNCOUNT □ [+ of ] …the adoption of Japanese management practices by British manufacturing.