collection
gb/kəlˈɛkʃən/ us/kəlˈɛkʃən/
A2
English
~ 1100
Senses
0 senses
Noun
A2
entity
1
A group of gathered items
A group of similar things kept together.
Usage pattern:
a collection of [things]
Common mistake:
Learners sometimes confuse 'collection' with 'selection'; 'selection' often means a choice or range available, while 'collection' refers to items kept together.
Synonyms
set (A smaller or complete series of related items.)
|
assortment (A varied selection, sometimes less organized than a collection.)
Antonyms
single (Refers to only one item rather than multiple gathered items.)
Collocations
stamp collection
|art collection
|collection of books
|private collection
|large collection
Themes
daily life
|art
|hobbies
|core_vocabulary
Examples
- She has an impressive collection of rare coins.
- The museum's collection includes paintings from the 18th century.
- He showed me his collection of vintage guitars.
- I donated my stamp collection to the local library.
- Their art collection is worth millions.
Learner examples
- I have a big collection of books.
- She keeps her coin collection in a box.
- He has a music collection on his phone.
- They have a photo collection from their trip.
Noun
B1
action
2
The act of bringing things together
The act of bringing things or people together.
Usage pattern:
collection of [things]
Common mistake:
Learners sometimes confuse this meaning with 'pickup' when referring to services; 'pickup' is more informal and specific to collecting something from a place.
Synonyms
gathering (More general and can refer to people as well as things.)
|
accumulation (Focuses more on gradual increase over time.)
Antonyms
dispersion (The act of spreading things out instead of gathering them.)
Collocations
waste collection
|data collection
|garbage collection
|collection service
Themes
daily life
|core_vocabulary
|daily_life
Examples
- The city schedules garbage collection twice a week.
- Data collection is an important part of the research.
- They organized a collection of clothes for the homeless.
- The charity's food collection will happen on Saturday.
- Collection of evidence took several hours.
Learner examples
- Garbage collection is on Monday.
- The school starts a toy collection at Christmas.
- We help with food collection for poor families.
- Data collection takes time.
Noun
B1
entity
3
Money or goods gathered for a cause
Money or things people give to help others or support a cause.
Usage pattern:
a collection for [cause]
Common mistake:
Learners may confuse 'collection' (the total gathered) with 'donation' (the act of giving).
Synonyms
fundraiser (An event or activity to raise money, not the gathered money itself.)
Antonyms
donation (Refers to the act of giving rather than the gathered sum.)
Collocations
charity collection
|church collection
|collection box
Themes
charity
|finance
|relationships
Examples
- They took up a collection for the earthquake victims.
- The church holds a weekly collection during services.
- A charity collection was organized at school.
- We contributed to the street musician's collection box.
Learner examples
- We gave money to the charity collection.
- The church has a collection every Sunday.
- Our class started a food collection for the shelter.
Grammar
Dictionary form
collection
IPA
GB/kəlˈɛkʃən/
US/kəlˈɛkʃən/
Syllables & stress
col - lec - tion (3 syllables)
Stress on 2nd syllable (lec)
Word forms
Noun
- Base: collection
- Plural: collection, collections
Word family
Forms
collections
noun
Related words
Negative and opposite forms
uncollected
adjective
Advanced or less common
recollect
verb B2
recollection
noun B2
Expressions
data collection
1/dˈætə kəlˈɛkʃən/
fixed phrase
technical
Gathering information for use or study
The act of getting information for research, work, or study.
Examples
- Data collection is the first step in our project.
- Accurate data collection is essential for good research results.
in (someone's) collection
1/ˈɪn sˈʌmwˌʌnz kəlˈɛkʃən/
fixed phrase
Part of owned set of items
Something that belongs to someone's group of special things they keep.
Examples
- That painting is in her private collection.
- I have three rare books in my collection.
take up a collection
1/tˈeɪk ˈʌp ə kəlˈɛkʃən/
idiom
Gather money from people for purpose
To ask people to give money for someone or something.
Examples
- We took up a collection to help the injured worker.
- They decided to take up a collection for new school equipment.
garbage collection
1/ɡˈɑɹbɪd͡ʒ kəlˈɛkʃən/
fixed phrase
Removal of household waste
The job of taking away waste from houses and other places.
Examples
- Garbage collection is on Thursday in our neighborhood.
- The city improved its garbage collection service.
garbage collection
2/ɡˈɑɹbɪd͡ʒ kəlˈɛkʃən/
fixed phrase
technical
automatic reclaiming of unused memory
In computing, the automatic process of finding and freeing memory that a program does not need anymore.
Examples
- Garbage collection makes programming easier but can affect performance.
- Languages like Java and C# use automatic garbage collection.
stamp collection
6/stˈæmp kəlˈɛkʃən/
fixed phrase
group of stamps kept as a hobby
A set of postage stamps that someone keeps and adds to as a hobby.
Examples
- His stamp collection includes rare stamps from the 19th century.
- He showed me his stamp collection, which he started as a child.
- She showed me her stamp collection in a special album.
- Her grandfather’s stamp collection is now very valuable.
- Many people keep their stamp collection in special albums.