focus noun

1 centre of interest/attention

ADJ. central, main, major, primary, prime, principal | important, special | greater, increased | clear, sharp, strong The company's restructuring is designed to give a sharper focus on key growth markets. | narrow I found the focus of the debate too narrow.

VERB + FOCUS act as, give sb/sth, provide (sb/sth with), serve as Cities have always acted as the principal focus of political life. | change, shift At this stage of the trial the defence lawyer often shifts the focus onto the victim. | bring sth into This case has brought the problem of drug abuse in schools into sharp focus. | come into The question of compensation comes into focus.

FOCUS + VERB be on sb/sth Our primary focus this term will be on group work. | shift The focus has now shifted towards the problem of long-term unemployment.

PREP. ~ for She became a focus for all his anger. | ~ on an increased focus on younger people

PHRASES a change/shift of focus, the focus of attention He found he was now their main focus of attention.

2 point/distance at which sth is clearly seen

ADJ. sharp | soft soft focus shots of cuddly animals

VERB + FOCUS come into When I got glasses suddenly the whole world came into focus (= became clear to see).

PREP. in ~ The binoculars were not in focus (= were not showing things clearly). | out of ~ The children's faces are badly out of focus (= not clearly shown) in the photograph.

focus verb

1 give attention to sth

ADV. heavily, largely, mainly, particularly, primarily, principally | entirely, exclusively, solely The study focuses exclusively on secondary schools. | increasingly | fully | firmly The attention of the news media was firmly focused on the elections. | specifically | clearly | directly | closely, sharply | narrowly | initially | inevitably He inevitably focused on his own concerns, with only a passing query about Jeff. | traditionally Degree courses have traditionally focused on the established great writers of the past.

VERB + FOCUS need to | try to | decide to | tend to | help (to) Think of some questions that will help focus the discussion.

PREP. on/upon We need to focus upon the main issues.

PHRASES highly/tightly focused The department undertakes highly focused research. | narrowly focused The study was criticized for being too narrowly focused.

2 direct your eyes towards sth

ADV. automatically

VERB + FOCUS try to She blinked and tried to focus.

PREP. on/upon The eye will automatically focus on the small group in the foreground.

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

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