Online OXFORD Collocation Dictionary

push noun

¹ act of pushing

ADJ. big, hard | gentle, little

VERB + PUSH give sb/sth She gave him a gentle push towards the door.

PHRASES at the push of a button The machine washes and dries at the push of a button.

² effort to do/obtain sth

ADJ. big | final

PREP. ~ against the final push against the enemy | ~ for There has been a big push for better public transport. | ~ towards a push towards organic food

push verb

¹ use force to move sb/sth away from you

ADV. firmly, hard You'll have to push harder if you want it to move. | roughly, violently | gently | carefully | deliberately He was deliberately pushed into the path of the vehicle. | hastily, hurriedly, quickly | slowly | suddenly | just, merely, simply Jack flung himself at Steve, but he simply pushed him away. | aside, away, back, down, home, inside, over, together She leaned on the door and pushed the bolt home. They pushed the two desks together.

VERB + PUSH try to | manage to | begin to

PREP. across, against The fans pushed against the barrier. | at She pushed at the door but it wouldn't budge. | into, off, out of He pushed her roughly out of the door. | through, to The woman had been pushed violently to the ground. | towards, under She found a note pushed under the door.

PHRASES push sth open/shut He managed to push the window open a few inches.

² move forward by pushing people

ADV. roughly | blindly

VERB + PUSH try to | begin to I began to push my way through the crowd.

PREP. past She pushed blindly past him and made for the door. | through pushing through the crowd

PHRASES push and shove People were pushing and shoving to get to the front. | push your way A man pushed his way to the front of the crowd.

³ put pressure on sb/yourself

ADV. hard Lucy should push herself a little harder. | too far Her parents are very tolerant, but sometimes she pushes them too far. | around Don't allow yourself to be pushed around by that bully.

PREP. into Her parents pushed her into accepting the job.

PHRASES push sb/yourself to the limit He felt he was being pushed to the limits of his self-control. PHRASAL VERBS push for sth

ADV. hard They're pushing hard for a ban on GM foods.

VERB + PUSH have to I'm going to have to push you for an answer.