god S1 W1 / ɡɒd $ ɡɑd / 名词
1 God the spirit or being who Christians, Jews, Muslims etc pray to, and who they believe created the universe :
Prayer is a way of talking to God. ► In this sense, God is written with a capital letter and without ‘the’ : We asked God (NOT the God) to help us. Expressions containing the word God such as oh my God are common in spoken English but can offend religious people.
2 [可数名词] a male spirit or being who is believed by some religions to control the world or part of it, or who represents a particular quality → goddess
god of
Mars, the god of war
Roman/Greek etc god
Zeus was one of the most well-known Greek gods.
3 God’s gift to somebody/something someone who thinks they are perfect or extremely attractive – used to show disapproval :
Paul thinks he’s God’s gift to women.
4 [可数名词] someone who is admired very much :
To his fans he is a god.
5 [可数名词] something which you give too much importance or respect to :
Money became his god.
6 the gods
a) the force that some people believe controls their lives, bringing them good or bad luck :
The gods are against us.
b) British English informal old-fashioned the seats high up and at the back of a theatre
7 God/oh (my) God/good God/God almighty spoken used to emphasize what you are saying, when you are surprised, annoyed, or amused :
Oh God, how embarrassing!
8 for God’s sake spoken used to emphasize something you are saying when you are annoyed :
For God’s sake, shut up!
9 I swear/hope/wish/pray to God spoken used to emphasize that you promise, hope etc that something is true :
I hope to God nothing goes wrong.
10 God forbid (that) spoken used to say that you very much hope that something will not happen :
God forbid that this should ever happen again.
11 God (only) knows spoken
a) used to show that you are annoyed because you do not know something, or because you think that something is unreasonable
God (only) knows who/what/how etc
God knows what she’s doing in there.
b) used to emphasize what you are saying :
God knows, it hasn’t been easy.
12 what/how/where/who in God’s name spoken used to emphasize a question when you are angry or surprised :
Where in God’s name have you been?
13 God help you/him etc spoken used to warn someone that something bad will happen :
God help you if you spill anything on the carpet.
14 God help us spoken said humorously when you think that something bad is going to happen :
‘Simon’s doing the cooking.’ ‘God help us!’
15 honest to God spoken used to emphasize that you are not lying or joking :
Honest to God, I didn’t tell her!
16 God willing spoken used to say that you hope there will be no problems :
We’ll be moving next month, God willing.
17 God bless spoken used to say that you hope someone will be safe and happy, especially when you are saying goodbye :
Good night and God bless.
18 God give me strength! spoken used when you are becoming annoyed
19 there is a God! spoken said when someone is explaining that something very good happened to them at a time when they thought that their situation was very bad :
In walked four gorgeous, blond Swedish boys, and I thought, ‘There is a God!’
20 God rest his/her soul ( also God rest him/her ) spoken old use used to show respect when speaking about someone who is dead
21 by God spoken old use used to emphasize how determined or surprised you are
→ there but for the grace of God at grace 1 ( 6 ) , → in the lap of the gods at lap 1 ( 6 ) , → play God at play 1 ( 8 ) , → thank God/goodness/heavens at thank ( 2 )
COLLOCATIONS
动词
believe in God Do you believe in God?
pray to God They prayed to God for forgiveness.
worship God (= show love and respect for God ) Hinduism tells everyone to worship God in his own faith.
praise God They came to the church to praise God.
God exists I believe that God exists.
短语
belief/faith in God About one-third of the population has no belief in God. | Her faith in God helped her deal with her illness.
God’s will/the will of God (= what God wants to happen ) He believed it was God’s will that they should suffer.
Almighty God/God Almighty (= used to emphasize God’s power ) He swore by Almighty God to tell the truth.
the word of God (= what God says ) Missionaries traveled the world to tell people the word of God.
a gift from God Life is a gift from God.
God’s existence/the existence of God Philosophers argued about the existence of God.
THESAURUS
god a male spirit or being who is believed by some religions to control the world or part of it, or who represents a particular quality : Odin was the Viking god of war.
goddess a female god : Artemis, the Greek goddess of the moon
deity a god. Deity is more formal than god : a Hindu deity | Roman deities | the Supreme Deity
idol a picture or statue that people pray to as a god : a bronze idol
someone who does not believe in God
atheist 名词 , 形容词 omeone who believes that God does not exist : I’m a confirmed atheist.
agnostic 名词 , 形容词 omeone who believes that people cannot know whether God exists or not : He was an agnostic rather than an atheist.