I.adjectiveCOLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES
a likely outcome
▪ What is the likely outcome of the election?
a likely successor
▪ Who is his most likely successor as Director of the BBC World Service?
a likely/plausible scenario
▪ The more likely scenario is that support for the group will wane.
highly unlikely/likely/improbable/probable
▪ It’s highly unlikely that the project will be finished on time.
it seems likely/unlikely/reasonable/clear (that)
▪ It seems likely that he will miss Ireland’s next match.
the most likely/probable explanation (=one that is probably true)
▪ The most likely explanation is that John missed the bus.
▪ The most probable explanation is that the water was contaminated.
the possible/likely consequences
▪ What are the likely consequences of these changes?
the potential/likely impact
▪ He’s studying the potential impact of climate change.
the probable/likely cause
▪ The probable cause of the fire was faulty wiring.
COLLOCATIONS FROM CORPUS
■ ADVERB
also
▪ It is also likely that because of past changes a growing number of women will retire with some entitlement to a state pension.
▪ It is also likely to cause instability elsewhere in the region.
▪ The rise in self-employment is also likely to increase the flexibility of earnings.
▪ It is also likely that planned economic development and rehabilitation programs will grow.
▪ There are also likely to be provisions against losses on swap deals with local councils, which may be over £50million.
▪ Construction activity and home sales are also likely to plunge because of the storm, analysts said.
▪ There is also likely to be a row over the name Deloitte, which neither party seems prepared to give up.
▪ Ethnic and linguistic factors are also likely to play a part.
as
▪ His life expectancy is falling and he is seven times as likely to be murdered as a white boy.
▪ We are just as likely to sack the supplier and look for a nicer one.
▪ Patients who wore them were almost twice as likely to break the habit as those who wore a dummy patch.
▪ Ten bad products are just as likely to fail as one bad product - there is no protection in numbers.
▪ He's about as likely to have sympathy for the devil as he is to have satisfaction.
▪ They're just as likely to be used against us as they are against you.
▪ And they are as likely to get worse as to get better.
▪ Generally speaking, a widower or divorced man was three times as likely to remarry as his female counterpart throughout the period.
hardly
▪ It's hardly likely that the people in charge would want to share the fate of this unfortunate planet.
▪ It is hardly likely that a vicious thug will wait politely while we ring the police.
▪ Far from being a jackpot for commuters, the compensation payouts are hardly likely to be worth the flutter.
▪ It seemed hardly likely she would go to such lengths to prevent her husband from discovering about the Grand Duke Igor.
▪ It could have been an accident, but I knew that was hardly likely, not with the file missing.
▪ They're hardly likely to have the most tolerant or liberal attitudes are they!
▪ But the Research Board is hardly likely to get involved in a policing activity.
▪ Such an accusation is hardly likely to have been invented by his enemies if he had not performed miracles.
highly
▪ It seems highly likely that this contributes to their increased risk of infection.
▪ This sequence is not inevitable, but is highly likely to occur eventually unless adequate steps are taken to prevent it.
▪ It seems highly likely that most if not all the beer produced in Brick Lane by now was porter.
▪ Indeed, it seems highly likely that working-class families would have controlled family size through the old, rather than new, techniques.
▪ A survey will be carried out of sewage disposal systems and it is highly likely that major expenditure will be necessary.
less
▪ I would prefer an analogue contents display because it is more eye-catching and less likely to be misread.
▪ The possibility of oil production seems less likely.
▪ They are much less likely to be using mail order.
▪ This is a little more expensive than a normal invitation but it is less likely that it will get lost.
▪ This would make you less likely to behave like this in similar circumstances in the future.
▪ It's already known that women who take the contraceptive pill are much less likely to develop it.
▪ That is less likely, perhaps, with a more radical redesign.
▪ I would tend to favour the first method as you are less likely to let the compost get too wet.
more
▪ Your face will be more likely to have a dull complexion, with podgy, sagging cheeks and double chin.
▪ But it is more likely that he will not go far enough.
▪ Attention will also be given to whether pro-development objections are more likely to succeed than anti-development ones.
▪ It is more likely that the incorporation of radical ideas will contribute to their dilution and distraction.
▪ Children are more likely to be politically interested and active if their parents have been similarly interested or active.
▪ Women were more likely than men to be dependent on poor relief.
▪ On the one hand Conservative supporters seem more concerned about the outcome on Thursday and are fractionally more likely to vote.
most
▪ The most likely explanation for this is that the vehicle itself is not actually speeding up, but the cooling fan is!
▪ They say people who die sudden, violent deaths are most likely to become ghosts and haunt the earth.
▪ The still-married are the most likely to continue to live in their own private homes.
▪ The majority are most likely engineering managers, often managing industrial research, development, and design projects.
▪ But one might be forgiven for doubting if this is the most likely cause of the toxic side-effects of direct drilling!
▪ She identified the most likely candidate as Leach, who, she said, had agreed to accept her nomination.
▪ The most likely tributary area is the Lasithi plain.
▪ Flu is most likely to affect you in the autumn and winter, e.g. from October to March.
quite
▪ And it's quite likely that we never will.
▪ However, it is quite likely that the alienated student will refuse to do much schoolwork.
▪ Then the hrududu is quite likely to crush you.
▪ At work you are quite likely to have to follow a house style.
▪ Absurd though it may seem, it is quite likely that Mr Honecker and his companions genuinely believe all this.
▪ It is quite likely that you not only have no experience of regression therapy but have never even been hypnotized before.
▪ This is quite likely to be X - hence our mixture of compounds.
▪ Relieved of this burden, quite likely things improved to some extent.
very
▪ It is very likely that since the calf injury the strength of the muscles will have deteriorated considerably.
▪ That makes it very likely that a weak compromise selection will be made.
▪ Some of the houses were very likely in poor condition.
▪ I was only on the waiting list anyway and it wasn't very likely that four people would drop out.
▪ But a child chewing one of these Castor beans would very likely die.
▪ It wasn't very likely that he was going to want to get involved again, was it?
▪ It is very likely to over-react, however, and introduce formal procedures that swing the pendulum too far the other way.
▪ Various experiments done in volcanic environments have shown that proteinoid globules are very likely to form in such regions.
■ NOUN
candidate
▪ The police kept up their enquiries and one or two likely candidates rose to the surface, but nothing was clearly actionable.
▪ In retrospect, however, it is clear that there were always good reasons why this city was a likely candidate.
▪ Actor David Jason is a likely candidate for one of these.
▪ Even the least likely candidate for a career in dance knew that Truitte was available after class for talk about the field.
▪ Three likely candidates for study are the comets Enke, Tempel 2 and Honday-Mrkos-Pajdusakova.
▪ She identified the most likely candidate as Leach, who, she said, had agreed to accept her nomination.
▪ With the United States running a current account deficit of staggering dimensions, the most likely candidate is not hard to spot.
▪ Thames, North West and Severn Trent are the most likely candidates.
cause
▪ As to likely causes, the out-of-round wheels phenomenon looks feasible.
▪ Hypokalemia is usually associated with this condition and is a more likely cause of the arrhythmias.
▪ But one might be forgiven for doubting if this is the most likely cause of the toxic side-effects of direct drilling!
▪ Flying experts again reckoned a cockpit mistake was the most likely cause of yesterday's catastrophe.
▪ And if I insisted he came with me, he'd likely cause trouble, just as he said.
▪ A spokesman for Greenpeace said that industrial pollution appeared to be the most likely cause.
▪ What do you think is the most likely cause of your symptoms?
▪ Given that the doctor has ruled out infection and other likely causes for the diarrhoea, then food sensitivity should be considered.
consequence
▪ It is most important that the patient considers the likely consequences of different ways of trying to achieve goals.
▪ They are like charts which allow predictions to be made about the likely consequences of taking different courses of action.
▪ The process leading up to this and its likely consequences for teaching are discussed in detail in the article by Walsh.
▪ Soviet television crews were taken to the site, telegenic Soviet doctors were produced to discuss the likely consequences.
▪ In the absence of systematic research on these questions one can only speculate on the likely consequences of changes in employment practices.
▪ Next, you have to consider the options open to you and their likely consequences.
▪ What would be the likely consequences of specific changes in the current set of fiscal measures affecting forestry?
▪ An assessment of the likely consequences for Britain if Congress rejected the loan makes interesting reading.
explanation
▪ Running was the most likely explanation.
▪ I had suggested some new tropical disease was a far more likely explanation.
▪ The most likely explanation for this is that the vehicle itself is not actually speeding up, but the cooling fan is!
▪ These relaxations are a more likely explanation for oesophagopharyngeal reflux than defective basal upper oesophageal sphincter tone.
▪ The most likely explanation seems to be that stroking makes leaf tissues tougher.
▪ The more likely explanation is that she was pressurising him to leave your daughter to marry her.
▪ The most likely explanation was her offer to buy him dinner in return for the loan of the flat.
outcome
▪ Here she is assessing the likely outcome of a confrontation with her local council.
▪ The most likely outcome will be that Rep.
▪ In this way, individual operations can be shaped to be realistic rather than at odds with the likely outcome.
▪ An evaluation can also indicate with some authority what are likely outcomes or consequences of recommended revisions.
▪ Five out of six opinion polls yesterday showed Labour in the lead, pointing to a hung Parliament as the most likely outcome.
▪ Higher education was reinforcing likely outcomes instead of altering them.
▪ But what of the fourth situation which is actually the most likely outcome?
▪ However, the granting of bail is the most likely outcome.
PHRASES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
more than happy/welcome/likely etc
▪ And as to the finish, well, they'd be more than happy for you to check the results for yourself.
▪ For the most part, gallery staffers are more than happy to answer questions and discuss artists.
▪ If the leader is open, receptive, and responsive to you, the others will more than likely follow suit.
▪ If this is not possible, then most printers are more than happy to visit enquirers.
▪ The accident, as it turns out, was a broken mirror and more than likely a shortage of time.
▪ The Cap'n had been to Jarman House once ... would be coming again more than likely.
▪ They spend the time getting space for some new person who more than likely will leave.
▪ We trooped along and he more than likely brought his mate John Grey along with him.
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
▪ a list of likely candidates
▪ A peace settlement now seems likely.
▪ It is likely that the girl knew her killer.
▪ Showers and thunderstorms are likely in the afternoon.
▪ The jury is very likely to believe he was in the apartment at the time of the crime.
▪ The most likely result is a win for the Democrats.
▪ The price of petrol is likely to rise again this year.
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
▪ At least some of the extra cost of stockholding is likely to be passed on to the caterer.
▪ But if the past points the way to the future, then a healthy and prosperous adulthood seems more than likely.
▪ But they are likely to be of greater strategic than employment significance, and there will be losses.
▪ More experiments on more lymphoma-bearing mice followed, and the doses likely to achieve the best effect were assessed with great care.
▪ Regular travellers committed to such programmes are likely to choose hotels providing appropriate health and fitness facilities.
II.adverbCOLLOCATIONS FROM CORPUS
■ VERB
appear
▪ If Cadbury buys Orangina, as appears likely, its position will be further enhanced.
▪ Republicans appeared likely to gain a slightly larger majority in the Senate.
▪ Even with Raimond van der Gouw quick to narrow the angle a goal appeared likely.
▪ While it appeared likely the abortion clinic was the target, authorities would not rule out the possibility of other motives.
▪ But the presence of six other candidates appeared likely to prevent either Bulatovic or Djukanovic from getting a majority.
▪ The standoff over appointments and confirmations appears likely to deepen as the backlog grows.
▪ But some pockets of increased activity appear likely to emerge.
▪ While the House vote likely will be close, the Senate appears likely to agree with Clinton.
seem
▪ But it seems likely to proceed.
▪ It seemed likely to me that Oliver Ingraham wanted me to know there had been a better time for him.
▪ A renewed onslaught against the mutuals seems likely, which could bring windfalls for millions of borrowers, savers and policyholders.
▪ The bill was approved 64-32 by the Senate on Wednesday, and approval seems likely in the House by early March.
▪ It seems likely that two separate parties will emerge in its place.
▪ But this quadrant of Chelsea, more compact and closer to midtown, seems likely to develop more quickly.
▪ George Bush's administration has not shown such a determination, and it does not seem likely to do so.
▪ The error involved seems likely to be small relative to other uncertain-ties noted and, if so, is not serious.
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
▪ Firms that lack the time or resources to develop their own screening procedures will likely turn to personnel firms.
▪ Five points, which equates to 14 wins, likely will be enough for the conference title. 1.