Online OXFORD Collocation Dictionary

fortune noun

¹ luck

ADJ. good | ill

QUANT. piece, stroke By a stroke of good fortune, Steven was still in his office.

VERB + FORTUNE have | bring (sb) A horseshoe nailed to your door is supposed to bring good fortune.

FORTUNE + VERB be on sb's side, favour sb For once, fortune was on our side: the weather improved in time for the match. | smile on sb Fortune smiled on me that day (= I had good fortune).

PHRASES as good/ill fortune would have it As good fortune would have it, a bus came along just when I needed it. | a change in/of fortune All we can do is hope for a change in fortune. | have the good fortune to do sth I had the good fortune to work with people I liked.

² fortunes: what happens to sb/sth

ADJ. declining, flagging | changing, fluctuating, mixed a year of mixed fortunes for the company | economic, electoral

VERB + FORTUNE revive The party still hopes to revive its flagging electoral fortunes. | follow fans who follow the fortunes of their chosen team

FORTUNE + VERB change, fluctuate A company's fortunes can change overnight. | improve, rise | decline, fall as the country's fortunes rose and fell

PHRASES a reversal of fortunes The company suffered a great reversal of fortunes when public taste changed.

³ what is going to happen to sb in the future

VERB + FORTUNE read, tell They went to have their fortunes read.

FORTUNE + NOUN teller, telling

⁴ very large amount of money

ADJ. considerable, enormous, great, immense, large, substantial, vast | small (= quite large) Rebuilding the house must have cost a small fortune. | family, personal

VERB + FORTUNE accumulate, acquire, amass, build (up), make, win | inherit | leave (sb) Her aunt died and left her a fortune. | lose, squander He lost his fortune in the stock market crash of 1929. squandering the family fortune | seek They went to seek their fortune abroad. | be worth (informal) Some of those old toys are worth a fortune now. | cost (informal) | pay, spend (both informal) She spends a fortune on clothes!

PREP. ~ from He built his fortune from breeding horses. | ~ in She made a fortune in the property boom. | ~ on They sold their house at the right time and made a fortune on it. | ~ out He has amassed a considerable fortune out of trading shares.

PHRASES fame and fortune They went to America in search of fame and fortune. | heir/heiress to a fortune He was sole heir to the family fortune.