i‧ma‧gi‧na‧tion S3 W3 / ɪmædʒəneɪʃ ə n, ɪmædʒɪneɪʃ ə n / 名词

1 [可数和不可数名词] the ability to form pictures or ideas in your mind :

a storyteller with an incredible imagination

It does not take much imagination to understand their grief.

With a little imagination, you can find great inexpensive gifts.

2 be (a figment of) sb’s imagination to be something that someone imagines, not something that really exists or happens :

Did you hear that noise, or was it my imagination?

These people do exist; they’re not figments of my imagination.

3 in sb’s imagination only existing or happening in someone’s mind, not in real life :

For the refugees, home exists only in their imagination.

4 capture/catch sb’s imagination to make people feel very interested and excited :

American football really captured the imagination of the British public.

5 leave something to sb’s imagination to deliberately not describe something because you think someone can guess or imagine it :

Mercifully, the writer leaves most of the physical horrors to our imagination.

6 leave little/nothing to the imagination

a) if someone’s clothes leave little or nothing to the imagination, the clothes are very thin or are worn in a way that shows the person’s body :

Her black satin dress left nothing to the imagination.

b) if something sexual or violent is described in a way that leaves nothing to the imagination, it is described in too much detail

7 use your imagination spoken used to tell someone that they can easily guess the answer to a question, so you should not need to tell them

→ not by any stretch of the imagination at stretch 2 ( 4 )

COLLOCATIONS

形容词

a good imagination She’s a lively child, with a good imagination.

great imagination His paintings show great imagination.

a vivid/fertile imagination (= an ability to think of a lot of ideas and things that could happen ) She had a fertile imagination and a great sense of humour. | With your vivid imagination, you should write a book.

an overactive/fevered imagination (= a mind that imagines strange things that are not real ) These stories are the product of an overactive imagination.

the public imagination The story captured the public imagination.

creative imagination I don’t have the creative imagination to be a writer.

动词

have (an) imagination Her poems show that she has a lot of imagination.

use your imagination Musicians need to use their imagination as well as their technical skills.

show/display imagination His latest paintings display a vivid imagination.

lack imagination A lot of today’s pop music seems to lack imagination.

fire/stimulate somebody’s imagination (= make someone use their imagination ) The aim of the exhibition is to stimulate people’s imagination.

短语

be full of imagination Her stories are full of imagination.

a lack of imagination Their policies show a lack of imagination.

let your imagination run wild ( also let your imagination run riot British English ) (= allow yourself to imagine many strange or wonderful things ) He uses painting as a way of letting his imagination run riot.