family noun

1 group of people related to each other

ADJ. large | old, old-established | land-owning, wealthy, well-to-do | hard-up, low-income, poor tax incentives for low-income families | homeless | close, close-knit We are a very close-knit family and support each other through any crises. | immediate We've only told the immediate family (= the closest relations). | conjugal, nuclear the nuclear family of parents and children | extended maintaining contact with members of his extended family | lone-parent, one-parent, single-parent the difficulties faced by one-parent families | two-parent | adoptive helping emotionally damaged children to find placements with adoptive families | patriarchal | middle-class, working-class, etc. | royal | bereaved a counselling agency to help bereaved families

VERB + FAMILY belong to, be one/part of, come from He belonged to an old-established family. We all knew her so well that we felt she was almost part of the family. Many of our students come from poor families. | marry into She married into a wealthy family. | run in a medical condition which runs in the family | be in This painting has been in our family for generations.

FAMILY + NOUN background, history Do you know anything about her family background? a family history of heart disease | connections, relationships, ties They prefer to stay in their home country because of family ties. | member | life | business | home | commitments The job wouldn't really fit in with my family commitments. | income | doctor | holiday | feud | heirloom | motto | name (= surname) | planning (= controlling the number of children you have by using contraception)

PREP. in a/the ~ These problems occur in all families. | within a/the ~ creating conflict within the family

PHRASES family and friends The support of family and friends is vital. | a member of a family

2 children

ADJ. large, small | young parents with young families

VERB + FAMILY have I always wanted to have a large family. | start They got married last year and plan to start a family (= have children) soon. | bring up, raise struggling to bring up a family on a low income | feed, support It is difficult for them to earn enough to feed their families.

FAMILY + NOUN size Average family size has decreased since the Victorian era. | man a good family man, completely devoted to his wife and kids

You can also check other dicts: family (English, 中文解释 ), wordnet sense, Collins Definition

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