What does firm mean

Crossword clues for firm

firm

Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English

firm

I.noun

COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES

a clear/firm decision (=a definite one)

▪ It's now time to come to a clear decision on this.

a construction company/firm

▪ It’s the largest construction company in Mexico.

a firm conclusion (=definite decision)

▪ At the end of the day, no firm conclusion had been reached.

a firm friend (=a friend you like a lot and intend to keep)

▪ They had remained firm friends ever since they first met.

a firm friendship (=one that is strong and not likely to change)

▪ I established a firm friendship with Terence.

a firm handshake (=holding and shaking someone's hand firmly)

▪ Stan greeted me with a firm handshake.

a firm pledge

▪ He also gave a firm pledge to build up the National Health Service.

a firm promise (=definite)

▪ What had happened to all those firm promises of help?

a firm/strong belief

▪ It is still my firm belief that we did the right thing.

a firm/tight grip

▪ The streets were crowded and she kept a tight grip on her bag.

a good/firm/thorough etc grasp of sth

▪ Steve has a good grasp of the European legal system.

a rival company/firm

▪ It may have to merge with a rival company to stay in business.

a solid/firm/strong base

▪ A good education should give you a solid base for life.

a sound/firm/secure footing

▪ They managed to get the business onto a more secure footing.

a sound/firm/solid basis

▪ Drama school may provide a sound basis for an acting career.

a tight/firm hold

▪ Rose had a tight hold of her hand.

an employee joins a company/firm etc

▪ Employees who join the firm after April receive a percentage of the annual bonus.

an old/firm/particular favourite

▪ a sweater that’s an old favorite

electronics company/industry/firm etc

firm

▪ a round loaf with a firm texture

firm/soft/hard etc mattress

▪ an old, lumpy mattress

firm/tough action

▪ We need firm action to deal with the problem.

good/strong/firm discipline (=clear rules that people understand and must obey)

▪ Without good discipline in a school, the standard of teaching suffers.

law firm

PR agency/firm/consultant

▪ a large PR firm

reputable firm/company

▪ If you have a burglar alarm fitted, make sure it is done by a reputable company.

solid/firm foundation

▪ The course gives students a solid foundation in the basics of computing.

start a business/company/firm etc

▪ She wanted to start her own catering business.

take a tough/firm/hard line on sth

▪ The school takes a very tough line on drugs.

wet/firm/soft etc underfoot

▪ The wet wood is very slippery underfoot.

COLLOCATIONS FROM CORPUS

■ ADJECTIVE

foreign

▪ And, Mr Trittin notes, some of the buyers were large foreign financial firms, taking advantage of the weak dollar.

▪ Meanwhile many public assets were sold off cheaply, often to foreign firms.

▪ Staying friendly with foreign telephone firms also helps in other ways.

▪ And there are also foreign firms, Netto and Aldi, who are trying to get a toehold here.

▪ Some local legislatures have begun to demand bigger payments from foreign mining firms working on their turf.

large

▪ Effectively, there are three large airliner firms left in the world market.

▪ Partners of Kaye Fialkow will become partners of the larger New York firm.

▪ Capital then emerges again more efficient, but concentrated in larger firms the successful absorbing the weak.

▪ National Express, a large bus transport firm.

▪ We will shortly examine the policies which have been adopted to restrict the degree of monopoly power exercised by large firms.

▪ A third major source of short-term financing, commercial paper, is available to large firms with high-quality credit ratings.

▪ Both of these tendencies were well under way by 1985 with nearly all the large firms included in Table 11.1.

▪ Philadelphia had but few large firms with many hundreds or thousands of employees.

local

▪ Gifts in kind on a larger scale by local shops or firms also exist on a large scale.

▪ For help in getting started, call sales managers of well-known local brokerage firms.

▪ Implementing a series of recycling procedures in corporation offices and preparing information leaflets for local firms about similar initiatives.

▪ Did they call a local architecture firm?

▪ Already complementary technology agreements have been made among local firms to support these ambitions.

▪ Whether by some form of contract or by increasing local capital, firms can continue expanding their economic involvement.

▪ But, though local firms contributed, the public still footed much of the bill.

▪ The arrival of a new and major market in the Lancaster area represents a major opportunity for local firms.

major

▪ This all goes to dissuade consultants in the major firms from leaving.

▪ Several major law firms have recently enacted codes of conduct to delineate appropriate behavior and to ward off official complaints.

▪ This has meant that one of the major firms of chartered accountants has been employed.

▪ The city also reached agreement with a major development firm to market the industrial park area.

▪ This sub-sector is an increasingly competitive one which all of the major firms have identified as a growth area.

▪ For 15 years, I have worked for a nonprofit civil-rights organization that regularly enjoys the co-counsel support of major law firms.

▪ The promotion makes him the youngest chief executive of a major Wall Street firm.

▪ Barriers had disappeared in all the top universities, the major law firms, and most industries.

private

▪ The Government also wants private firms to curtail wage rises, currently running at around six percent.

▪ There is no private law firm where the defeated candidates can retire.

▪ Employees of the private firms selected would be helpless to resist Provisional dictates.

▪ Even when private firms do not have monopolies, they at times develop enough political power to stifle competition.

▪ It is good for business, giving private firms new opportunities to market their services.

▪ Some are run by private schools or firms, on contract with school districts.

▪ They're protesting at the government's proposals to allow private firms to tender for prison work.

▪ It shows that in most cases, private firms deliver services more economically than public organizations.

small

▪ That is already happening: lending to small firms rose only 5.5% last year.

▪ It may be particularly difficult for small firms to provide highly structured and intensive work-based learning experiences.

▪ For small firms that could reach 2.6 per cent.

▪ In general, smaller firms are more flexible.

▪ Business rates will become a local tax again, with rate rebates for small firms.

▪ This would discriminate against the growth of small, new firms, which may rely on bank loans to finance their investment.

▪ For a small firm of solicitors in a market town, conveyancing has accounted for about half of all fee income.

▪ By 1989, there were 3,000 -a net gain of 1,200 in office functions, retailing and small firms in nursery workshops.

■ NOUN

brokerage

▪ Because she has a substantial portfolio, she should be able to seek this out at any full-service brokerage firm.

▪ Officials at all three brokerage firms say the charge applies to a relatively few clients.

▪ With leading brokerage firms possessing large customer bases such as Goldman, Sachs&038;.

▪ The authority said the banks and brokerage firms eliminated or are resolving the problems.

▪ No banks or brokerage firms failed.

▪ Adler Coleman, a clearing company for about 40 brokerage firms, files for bankruptcy protection.

▪ With the vast majority of suburban commuters unable to get to New York, brokerage firms were operating with skeleton staffs.

▪ Computer and semiconductor stocks slid as three brokerage firms downgraded earnings estimates for Dell Computer.

law

▪ New York-based Martindale-Hubbell publishes an eight-volume guide to the legal profession which contains entries for 700,000 lawyers and 44,000 law firms.

▪ Most law firms, in my view, are self-perpetuating aristocracies.

▪ Other law firms may be less conscientious.

▪ Law firm were law firms, and areas such as marketing and finance were foreign to them.

▪ The historic deal, hammered out with the 60 law firms representing the Castano case, is intriguing.

▪ He could hook up with one of those fancy law firms in Minneapolis.

research

▪ A panel of households was recruited, all of which agreed to buy their tea through the research firm for three months.

▪ So I called in a market research firm and commissioned a survey of the district.

▪ Inc., a social research firm for Domini.

▪ Weprin Associates, a New York-based research firm.

▪ Nationally, about 37 percent of households have a computer, according to Odyssey, a technology research firm in San Francisco.

▪ Young, the accounting research firm.

search

▪ As we suggested, this applies even to the largest and most prestigious search firms.

▪ Although the firm was based in Minneapolis, the executive search firm found Ed in New York.

▪ The top multinational search firms, according to users, have a number of advantages.

▪ It follows four major initial public offerings of such search firms in the last three months.

▪ Remuneration planning remains an activity of growing importance for search firms such as Tyzack, as companies agglomerate and national compensation characteristics clash.

▪ No executive search firm has been named.

▪ Overall, use of search is now widespread enough to enable search firms to ride out storms in specific sectors.

▪ The early search firms were dominated by two types of individuals.

PHRASES FROM OTHER ENTRIES

be a (great/firm) believer in sth

▪ Daley was a firm believer in the bootstrap theory.

▪ He was a firm believer in the power of prayer.

▪ He was a great believer in expressing aggression, not bottling it up.

▪ Lampard was a great believer in eating whenever you could.

▪ Letterman is a believer in the immigrant mentality.

▪ Molly was a believer in homeopathy and underwent her last operation and subsequent treatment in the Royal London Homeopathic Hospital.

▪ She is a believer in fundamentals, in technique.

▪ Tip is a firm believer in fate, and in 1961 the finger pointed in the right direction for him.

brokerage house/firm

▪ Adler Coleman, a clearing company for about 40 brokerage firms, files for bankruptcy protection.

▪ Also, many foreign-exchange brokerage firms closed at noon.

▪ Because she has a substantial portfolio, she should be able to seek this out at any full-service brokerage firm.

▪ Computer and semiconductor stocks slid as three brokerage firms downgraded earnings estimates for Dell Computer.

▪ Of course, there is intense competition among the London brokerage houses to signal their bids as fast as possible.

▪ The authority said the banks and brokerage firms eliminated or are resolving the problems.

small business/firm/farmer etc

▪ As a consequence, greater emphasis has been placed upon encouraging locally-based regeneration, and especially upon a revival of small firms.

▪ But it also is threatening the livelihoods of many small business operators in San Diego and elsewhere.

▪ Confiscatory taxes and overly complex tax regulations make it exceedingly difficult for small business to perform this basic function.

▪ On March 19 it passed a regulatory reform bill, which is intended to lighten the weight of government on small businesses.

▪ Paid holidays are 25 percent fewer in small firms and only half of this allowance is actually taken.

▪ The company also has expanded its offerings to help large and small businesses use the Internet and private computer networks.

▪ The Northern arm currently caters to the needs of more than 1,000 small businesses.

▪ The people believed, and many of them were putting money into improving their homes, modernizing their small businesses.

stand firm/stand fast

EXAMPLES FROM OTHER ENTRIES

▪ Edward got a job with a firm of accountants in London.

▪ Hanson decided to start his own management consulting firm.

▪ Harris joined the firm in 1992.

▪ She works for a law firm in Amsterdam.

EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS

▪ But what followed was usually at least embarrassing for the firms, and quite often the disclosures provoked international action.

▪ But while workers in food factories are regularly inspected, sandwiches are often made by small firms and even one-man-bands.

▪ Now his firm has been axed from school duties in Swansea and faces prosecution.

▪ Paid holidays are 25 percent fewer in small firms and only half of this allowance is actually taken.

▪ She moved to Federated late last year to help the firm set up a new emerging markets fund.

▪ The firm then reimbursed the fund for the $ 200, 000 it had received from the fund for legal costs.

▪ When defaults proliferate, as they do during and after recessions, the two firms wield enormous clout in financial markets.

II.adjective

COLLOCATIONS FROM CORPUS

■ NOUN

action

▪ Mr Dunion praised the charter's sentiments but criticised its lack of a firm action plan.

▪ Despite government promises of firm action, no official had to date been convicted of corruption.

▪ There are, no doubt, some circumstances where firm action is urgently necessary and where vacillation or debate would be fatal.

▪ Their teeth are sharp, and if you are bitten it is important to take firm action.

▪ Lack of any firm action by the police even led the Board to take the whole issue to the High Court.

▪ The Metropolitan Police will not hesitate to take firm action to free communities from this tiny minority.

▪ Conclusion Commitment and firm action are necessary in order to improve the standard of financial accountability in the public sector.

base

▪ A shift in the weather pattern, bringing low pressure systems across the Alps in December laid down a firm base.

▪ There is a sort of secret cave under the far bank which must be filled before a firm base can be established.

▪ The capitalist tenant, the concessionaire and so forth will similarly have a firm base in the growing economically petty-bourgeois element.

▪ That hope rests on a firm base.

basis

▪ This provides a firm basis for the new interest in evaluation and an earnest desire for its continued growth.

▪ This is where Hardware Anxiety Syndrome has a firm basis in fact.

▪ A single experiment of this sort can not provide a firm basis for any wide-ranging claims.

▪ But such wonder, such admiration, has its firmest basis in the discovery by faith of the marvel that is man.

▪ And yet he has not yet been able to put his legitimacy on a firm basis.

▪ In the future, broader co-operation and co-ordination may follow from the firm basis of this work.

▪ Was this just because she saw herself as a Frieda Lawrence figure, or was there some firmer basis for it?

▪ We can thus put our study on a firmer basis of observation and evidence than if we took a broader domain.

belief

▪ There was a firm belief among old-time ferreters that the ferrets needed to be vicious and half-starved to do their work well.

▪ A firm belief in the priesthood of all believers means that singing belongs to the whole congregation as well as to the choir.

believer

▪ He was a firm believer in the power of prayer.

▪ Bill Tobin is a firm believer that the scouting department should have more influence than assistant coaches in running the draft.

▪ Despite the obstacles they encountered in their research and their own experience, the three young interviewers remain firm believers in inclusion.

▪ Daley was a firm believer in the bootstrap theory.

▪ A firm believer in mysticism and fate, he felt he had ignored the course his intuition was guiding him to follow.

commitment

▪ But the environment minister, Tom King, could not give any firm commitment to further government funds.

▪ That sounds like a firm commitment.

▪ The most far-reaching omission was the lack of any firm commitment to a policy for integration.

▪ A third was that decentralization requires a firm commitment from the top.

▪ The rest of the world owes them at least a firm commitment to primary education.

▪ The root of materialism is probably a firm commitment to empirical scientific method as the only reliable way to discover truth.

▪ Such a firm commitment was not sought at this stage.

▪ It was not until the second half of the 1950s that autarchy was definitively superseded by a firm commitment to international capitalism.

conclusion

▪ With regard to acquittal rates in the magistrates' courts, our data are too uncertain to draw firm conclusions as they are incomplete.

▪ Interpretation of the vast library of information in these radar images continues, but a number of firm conclusions are already evident.

▪ It was too early to reach firm conclusions as to the direction's effectiveness.

▪ Any firm conclusions would require much more lengthy analysis than is possible in this book.

▪ Would seeing a re-run of the incident, as he had recounted it, help Terry Gill to a firmer conclusion?

▪ Perhaps the only firm conclusion to emerge from this continuing debate is the recognition that the literary scene has become pluralistic.

▪ However, planetary chemistry is sufficiently complicated that this can not be regarded as a firm conclusion.

▪ It is not possible to come to a firm conclusion about this project in financial terms at the moment.

control

▪ To keep firm control over public spending.

▪ Mr Fujimori's backers seemed in firm control of media coverage of the election.

▪ Lockyer maintains firm control over Rules Committee decisions.

▪ These empires, run by the internalized voices of deified ancestors, demanded a firm control of classes and sections of society.

▪ You'd be wise, Miss Holbrook, to keep a firm control on your own lively imagination.

▪ Angel One had firm control of himself again, after his uncharacteristic loss of self-control.

conviction

▪ It is the firm conviction of your Board that you should not become shareholders in a company with such an unsound strategy.

▪ Like fighters, those who flee tend to hold firm convictions about how progress and growth ought to be achieved.

▪ Believe he could not, and at the same time he had no firm conviction that all was untrue.

▪ Fighting Organizational Behavior Patterns Strong, healthy individuals have firm convictions and beliefs.

▪ The right hon. Lady said no, no, no out of firm conviction.

decision

▪ A firm decision was taken at the onset of the competition to have 12 finalist.

▪ These matters will be looked at before a firm decision is taken.

▪ Under these difficult conditions, some firm decisions had to be made on cost savings, both with regard to investment and labour.

▪ The University said tonight the governing body at Somerville had made no firm decision on admitting male students today.

evidence

▪ They all point to Meredith Putt - but we've no firm evidence to offer a court.

▪ All had probably served the Nevilles, although firm evidence survives only for the Withams, Gowers and Constables.

▪ There is no firm evidence either way.

▪ It was thought for a long time that he was a Carthusian but there is no firm evidence for this.

▪ Yet dozens of independent scientists around the world have provided firm evidence linking OPs with similar symptoms.

favourite

▪ The Many-Spotted Catfish, Synodontis multipunctatus is a firm favourite among catfish enthusiasts.

▪ The dramatic headland of St Govan's Head is a firm favourite with climbers and there are many bridlepaths and riding schools.

▪ A firm favourite with visiting performers, since it's just a few yards from the Royal Opera House.

▪ Our local library, Macdonald Road, Edinburgh, produced a book on fishing that became my firm favourite.

▪ Once you have served baked jacket potatoes this dish will become a firm favourite.

▪ And as we all know the show remains a firm favourite.

foundation

▪ No building can stand without firm foundations, and neither can a marriage.

▪ Particularist feeling in the duchy of Aosta was hallowed by centuries of tradition and grounded in a firm foundation of local institutions.

▪ Then new gravel is laid directly on top - the old gravel will form a firm foundation.

▪ In fact, the learning rule can be given a firmer foundation.

▪ Therefore, the soil has to be removed down to firm ground, and a firm foundation prepared for the side walls.

▪ These are the firm foundations of economic recovery.

▪ Or concrete can be used as a firm foundation for a more decorative finish later.

▪ We will also continue to support the recruitment and development of trainees to provide a firm foundation for our future development.

friend

▪ They had remained firm friends ever since their first meeting.

▪ Many volunteers return many times and become strongly attached to a favourite reserve - and make firm friends.

▪ From my angle Edward and I were now firm friends.

▪ The girls' parents had held her in high regard and they had become firm friends.

▪ It was their second get-together, and the two have now become firm friends.

▪ It was the right decision for us both and we're still firm friends.

▪ He first met Minton in a top-floor club in Wardour Street and they became firm friends.

▪ We became firm friends and corresponded long after the war ended, but sadly he died in Zagreb in 1975.

grasp

▪ It remained his belief, though, that a firm grasp of wider realities would serve him well.

▪ Usually this happens because the task is too broadly stated to get a firm grasp on it.

grip

▪ As darkness gains a firmer grip the songbirds fade and the owls start.

▪ I took a firm grip on the wheel as I scented some-thing.

▪ The other retained its firm grip on the reins.

▪ I keep a firm grip on my hat and stare into the blustery abyss.

▪ It is like trying to get a firm grip on a plateful of pudding.

▪ He grasped Dalgliesh's hand with a firm grip but didn't speak.

▪ She struck out blindly and found herself taken in a firm grip.

▪ Right-wing think-tanks have an even firmer grip.

ground

▪ With John Ingram we are on firmer ground.

▪ There had been such a wide expanse of firm ground that a trench had never been worn.

▪ One can begin on fairly firm ground by asking how many officials had the necessary qualifications and experience for their work.

▪ It's good to feel the firm ground underfoot after hours of trudging through flooded fields and over hedgerows in the darkness.

▪ Therefore, the soil has to be removed down to firm ground, and a firm foundation prepared for the side walls.

▪ In regard to the wealth of individual secular priests we are on firmer ground.

▪ Only ten feet later she touched firm ground again.

hand

▪ In other respects careful management and a firm hand pushed up the royal income.

▪ When Barkley Ball was at its peak, there was little need for a firm hand.

▪ Finally fold the ribbon back on itself and press the strain relief device into position with firm hand pressure.

▪ In fact, a firm hand might have steered the team on the rocks.

▪ A firm hand on the reins?

▪ Although he runs the operation with a firm hand, the Steelers are more like a family than any other team.

▪ Lizzy would need a firm hand after this.

▪ The guests had been selected with a boldness and discrimination in which the initiated recognized the firm hand of Catherine the Great.

hold

▪ But at current levels the shares are a firm hold.

▪ As she staggered awkwardly, he grabbed firm hold of the sagging pyjama-jacket, arresting her flight as he held her there.

▪ Clumps of sturdy weed grew wherever they could take a firm hold.

▪ As soon as one does so, its lips close around it, giving it a firm hold.

▪ Choose a firm hold variant which will keep your style in place during winder weather and light drizzle.

▪ Each brush has a heat-resistant handle with a rubber-neck grip for firm hold while you style.

▪ Teachers of reading need to keep a firm hold of their hats, their expertise and their integrity.

▪ Nevertheless, the mountain goat maintains a tenuous but firm hold in its cruel environment, even though catastrophe is never far away.

line

▪ So the ambassador could not take a single firm line.

▪ Her long, graceful neck curved into the round, firm line of her bodice.

▪ The constable closed his lips in a firm line and made his way through to the yard.

▪ Stopping short of direction intervention, Carter had taken a firm line.

▪ But the Young King was incapable of taking a firm line.

offer

▪ Agree with the vendors the timetable of events following the meeting and the deadline for the revised firm offers.

▪ I got the script with a firm offer.

▪ If no firm offer has been made within three months the farmer is free to go ahead with his original plans.

▪ Now one firm offers a free guarantee that you won't lose out.

stand

▪ Handing his keys to the parking valet, he decided that he would take a firm stand.

▪ The decision to take a firm stand comes after local councillors revealed the misery suffered by many of their constituents.

▪ Dauntless decided to take a firm stand in the matter.

supporter

▪ As a former schoolmaster, he has always been outspoken on education issues and a firm supporter of traditional learning methods.

▪ Bob Dole had seemed a firm supporter, but that was then.

PHRASES FROM OTHER ENTRIES

be a (great/firm) believer in sth

▪ Daley was a firm believer in the bootstrap theory.

▪ He was a firm believer in the power of prayer.

▪ He was a great believer in expressing aggression, not bottling it up.

▪ Lampard was a great believer in eating whenever you could.

▪ Letterman is a believer in the immigrant mentality.

▪ Molly was a believer in homeopathy and underwent her last operation and subsequent treatment in the Royal London Homeopathic Hospital.

▪ She is a believer in fundamentals, in technique.

▪ Tip is a firm believer in fate, and in 1961 the finger pointed in the right direction for him.

brokerage house/firm

▪ Adler Coleman, a clearing company for about 40 brokerage firms, files for bankruptcy protection.

▪ Also, many foreign-exchange brokerage firms closed at noon.

▪ Because she has a substantial portfolio, she should be able to seek this out at any full-service brokerage firm.

▪ Computer and semiconductor stocks slid as three brokerage firms downgraded earnings estimates for Dell Computer.

▪ Of course, there is intense competition among the London brokerage houses to signal their bids as fast as possible.

▪ The authority said the banks and brokerage firms eliminated or are resolving the problems.

stand firm/stand fast

EXAMPLES FROM OTHER ENTRIES

▪ a firm red tomato

▪ A dam about a mile upriver from the city held firm during the earthquake.

▪ Buy peaches that are quite firm, as they ripen very quickly indoors.

▪ Cook macaroni until tender but still firm.

▪ Emily was polite but firm - her answer was 'no'.

▪ For this recipe you will need six firm tomatoes.

▪ I find I sleep better on a firm mattress.

▪ The dollar began Friday on a firm note.

▪ These exercises are good for making your stomach muscles nice and firm.

▪ We're going to have to be very firm with her, but still treat her with respect.

▪ What you need is a firmer mattress.

▪ You'll just have to be firm with him and tell him he can't have any more money.

EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS

▪ Leapor is firm that her friend will be happier with a man who is dependable and who lives within his means.

▪ Monkfish has a very firm and meaty flesh, so it's easy to use for kebabs.

▪ The cut surface was firm and pale, but with no areas of necrosis.

▪ The suspension is the same as that used in the Sunny GTi, which makes it firm without being too hard.

▪ There was something about the firm set of her body that Jay knew instinctively: she was a survivor.

▪ Winding down I gave a firm strike only to find that I had missed the take, I was gutted.

III.verb

COLLOCATIONS FROM CORPUS

■ ADVERB

▪ Although I haven't given up trying to firm up my arms, I'd like to disguise them, too.

▪ Within eighteen months, they had firmed up a business plan, and Liz said good-bye to her migraines.

▪ The researchers are to examine more trees including four more species before they firm up their claims.

▪ Eckersley was made in Oakland, firmed up in Fremont and raised to his glory in Oakland again.

▪ I made contact, and the arrangements were firmed up over the next week.

▪ That figure is expected to increase by an additional 700, 000 when the 1995 figures are firmed up.

▪ If not a few sessions a week on an inclined treadmill should help firm up those wobbly thighs.

■ NOUN

street

▪ The plan also would make it less attractive to financial institutions and Wall Street firms to own tax-exempt municipal bonds.