relationre‧la‧tion /rɪˈleɪʃən/ ●●● S2 W1 noun 
Britain threatened to break off diplomatic relations with the regime.relation between Relations between the two countries have improved recently. b)the way in which people or groups of people behave towards each otherrelation between Relations between workers and management are generally good. → public relations2in relation to something formal a)used to talk about something that is connected with or compared with the thing you are talking about: Women’s earnings are still low in relation to men’s. b)formal concerning: latest developments in relation to the disease3connection [countable, uncountable] a connection between two or more things SYN relationshiprelation between the relation between prices and wages The price the meat is sold for bears no relation to (=is not connected to) the price the farmer receives.4family [countable] a member of your family SYN relative: We have relations in Canada and Scotland.relation of/to What relation are you to Jessica?close/distant relation Steve is a distant relation of my wife. → blood relation, → poor relation at poor
► see thesaurus at relative5have (sexual) relations (with somebody) old-fashioned to have sex with someoneCOLLOCATIONS– Meaning 1ADJECTIVES/NOUN + relationsclose· Many Japanese favor closer relations with the U.S.good· Relations between neighbours on the estate are very good.friendly· He had begun to establish friendly relations with his co-workers.race relations (=relations between people from different races who live in the same place)· New government measures aim to improve race relations in inner cities.industrial relations (also labour relations British English, labor relations American English) (=relations between managers and workers)· Good industrial relations are in everyone’s best interests.diplomatic relations (also international/foreign relations) (=official relations between two countries)· By then, Canada and Britain had established diplomatic relations with North Korea.· This visit was the president’s most important breakthrough in international relations.community relations (=relations between different groups in society)· Two police officers are responsible for community relations in the area.verbsbreak off relations· After the incident, Croatia broke off all relations with Serbia.establish/develop relations· The company has tried to establish relations with several universities.maintain relations· The Indian government had sought to maintain good relations with China.restore/resume relations (=begin them again after they were stopped or interrupted)· Kenya and Uganda agreed to restore full diplomatic relations.improve relations· The government emphasized the need to improve relations with neighbouring countries.sour relations (=make them less friendly)· The dispute has soured relations between the two countries.enjoy good relations (=have good relations)· For years, the company enjoyed good relations with its workersCOLLOCATIONS– Meaning 4ADJECTIVES/NOUN + relationa close relation (=a brother, parent, aunt etc)· Many of her close relations live nearby.a distant relation· He was some distant relation of Pollitt’s wife.a blood relation (=one related by birth not marriage)· It seems natural to share a house with blood relations.phrasesa relation by marriage· She’s a relation by marriage because she married my cousin.friends and relations· We miss our friends and relations in the UK.
EXAMPLES FROM THE CORPUS
- If the course described to you seems to bear no relation to these criteria do make further enquiries.
- Not really the thing for good intercompany relations.
- Over the past 12 years, we have transformed labour relations.
- The other friends were all Parisian except for a young couple, Rumanians living in Paris, distant relations of Teodor.
- Two-thirds of management boards by 1987 included a senior manager with primary responsibility for promoting service quality and consumer relations.
THESAURUS
a member of your family, especially one who does not live with you: · Most of her relatives were able to come to the wedding.· We have some distant relatives in Australia.
a member of your family. Relation means the same as relative. It is often used when talking about whether someone is in the same family as another person: · Big cities can be lonely places if you have no friends or relations there.· ‘What relation is she to you?’ ‘She’s my half sister.’· He’s no relation to the singer.
someone who is a family member of a person who lived and died a long time ago, for example the great-grandchild of that person: · The people are the descendants of slaves who were brought over from Africa.
a member of your family who lived a long time ago, especially hundreds of years ago: · My ancestors originally came from Ireland.
especially written people in your family who lived a long time ago – often used in historical descriptions: · His forefathers came to America over a century ago.
a family group that consists not only of parents and children, but also includes grandparents, aunts etc: · Extended families rarely live together in Britain, but they are still important.
especially American English informal your family, especially your parents: · Are you going to see your folks at Christmas?
the person or people who are most closely related to you, for example your husband or mother, and who need to be told if something serious happens to you: · The next of kin must be notified of his death before his name is released to the press.
Longman Language Activatorvery different from something or someone else if two or more people or things have nothing in common , they do not have the same qualities, opinions, or interests: · Apart from the fact that we went to the same school, we have absolutely nothing in common.have nothing in common with: · Batavia was a completely new modern city, having very little in common with other Indonesian towns.
to be completely different from and not connected in any way with another person or thing: · Everyone complains that the national tests bear no relation to what children have learnt in class.· I was astonished when I read the press release, which bore no relation to what I had told them.
people, beliefs, or ideas that are worlds or poles apart are so completely different that there is almost nothing about them that is similar: · I don't know why Max took an interest in me. We were always worlds apart.worlds apart/poles apart from: · The children were on holiday, enjoying a lifestyle worlds apart from the one they had to put up with at home.
if a situation is a far cry from another situation or place, it is so different that it is almost the opposite: · We had dinner at the Ritz, a far cry from our usual hamburger and fries.· The first Olympic Games in 1896 were a far cry from the slick spectacle of today.
if you say there is a world of difference between two activities or situations, you mean that they are completely different from each other and people should not expect them to be the same: · There is a world of difference between home-made bread and the tasteless substance that many people buy today.
especially American, informal to be very different from what you have done or experienced before: · Being married is one thing, but having children is a whole new ball game.
British informal if two people who are related or good friends are like chalk and cheese , they are completely different in a way that surprises you: · It's hard to believe that they're brothers -- they're like chalk and cheese!
someone who belongs to your family someone who is a member of your family although they do not live with you: · Over a hundred friends and relatives came to the wedding.relative/relation of: · Some relatives of the victims are planning to sue.close relative/relation (=someone who is closely related to you): · When he died, there were no children or close relatives to contact.distant relative/relation (=someone who is not closely related to you): · We have some distant relations in Australia that we've never met.no relation to somebody (=used to say someone is not related to someone else with the same name): · Marty Rogers (no relation to Governor Rogers) is one of the governor's biggest critics.
someone who is part of your family: · Only close family members are allowed to visit her.· Woods says she's not sure if any of the members of her family have read the book.
the person or people who are most closely related to you, for example your husband or mother, and who need to be told when you die or if you have a serious accident: · The college need to know your next of kin in case something happens to you.· The police will not release the dead man's name until his next of kin have been informed.
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE ENTRY Meaning 1ADJECTIVES/NOUN + relations bilateral negotiations between Israel and Syria Hungary established diplomatic relations with Chile in 1990. I wondered why he should bother to try and establish contact with me. the Minister of External Affairs a public relations exercise (=done in order to improve the relationship between the public and an organization) Vietnam restored diplomatic relations with South Korea on December 22. The two countries severed diplomatic relations. She had severed all contact with her ex-husband. the increasingly strained relations between the French and German governmentsCOLLOCATIONS FROM THE CORPUSADJECTIVE
· Many Japanese favor closer relations with the U.S.
· Relations between neighbours on the estate are very good.
· He had begun to establish friendly relations with his co-workers.
(=relations between people from different races who live in the same place)· New government measures aim to improve race relations in inner cities.
(also labour relations British English, labor relations American English) (=relations between managers and workers)· Good industrial relations are in everyone’s best interests.
(also international/foreign relations) (=official relations between two countries)· By then, Canada and Britain had established diplomatic relations with North Korea.· This visit was the president’s most important breakthrough in international relations.
(=relations between different groups in society)· Two police officers are responsible for community relations in the area.
verbs· After the incident, Croatia broke off all relations with Serbia.
· The company has tried to establish relations with several universities.
· The Indian government had sought to maintain good relations with China.
(=begin them again after they were stopped or interrupted)· Kenya and Uganda agreed to restore full diplomatic relations.
· The government emphasized the need to improve relations with neighbouring countries.
(=make them less friendly)· The dispute has soured relations between the two countries.
(=have good relations)· For years, the company enjoyed good relations with its workers
Meaning 4ADJECTIVES/NOUN + relation (=a brother, parent, aunt etc)· Many of her close relations live nearby.
· He was some distant relation of Pollitt’s wife.
(=one related by birth not marriage)· It seems natural to share a house with blood relations.
phrases· She’s a relation by marriage because she married my cousin.
· We miss our friends and relations in the UK.
COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES bilateral negotiations between Israel and Syria· Poor community relations are more common in urban areas than in the rest of the country.
(=one who advises an organization on how to relate well to the public)
· Staff are given training in customer relations.
Hungary established diplomatic relations with Chile in 1990. I wondered why he should bother to try and establish contact with me. the Minister of External Affairs (=the way in which men and women behave towards each other)· The best way to understand gender relations is to study children.
a public relations exercise (=done in order to improve the relationship between the public and an organization)· Public relations is an interesting field to work in.
· Our public relations are handled by Lisa Holden.
(=not match what is really happening or true)· His vision of European politics bears no relation to reality.
Vietnam restored diplomatic relations with South Korea on December 22. The two countries severed diplomatic relations. She had severed all contact with her ex-husband. the increasingly strained relations between the French and German governments· Both countries have a stake in using the World Trade Organization and in not allowing trade disputes to poison bilateral relations.· Although Qian was noncommittal about early normalization of bilateral relations, the meeting itself was unprecedented, and a landmark.
· My own wedding was a small affair with just two dozen of our closest friends and relations present.· Much safer to stick to one's close relations.· She said she had no close relations to bother about on her husband's side and only the Evans on hers.· The people who had saved my life were my close relations!· This would not preclude close working relations between purchasers and providers working closely to improve quality.· A similarly close relation ship may be seen between ivory and some of the most important precious stones used in antiquity.· Equally, the state has helped to maintain the structure of capital markets which promote closer relations between financial and industrial capital.· Many have spent years establishing close working relations with officials in Guangdong, Fujian and Hainan Island.
· Relations with Vatican Diplomatic relations were formally restored with the Vatican on Sept. 20.· Full diplomatic relations were established less than five months later, on February 1, 1989.· The publication of a book by a private citizen led to the breaking-off of diplomatic relations.· The announcement led to speculation that the Soviet government was intending to restore diplomatic relations with El Salvador.
· In spite of these considerations, Weber certainly did regard capitalism as a class society - economic relations form the basis of inequality.· At the international level Aglietta argues that the principal mechanism regulating the economic relations between national states is the international financial system.· There has been a perceived failure of old political, as well as old economic, relations.· By the early 1980s, only pariah regimes such A similar pattern has occurred in the development of economic relations.· Talks focused on economic relations and reaffirming ties.· Would-be practitioners of planning did not clearly understand the constraints imposed on their activities by external economic relations and pressures.· But what about in terms of economic relations?
· Good external relations will be vital because the Freie Akademie is poor.· It is in the internal and external trading relations of companies that the internet will have its major impact.· It also proposed bilingual education in schools and the creation of a secretariat of external relations and an environmental agency.· The scrupulous delimitation of state powers found no parallel in the conduct of external relations, which formed a permanent exception.· Transmission depends not only on the external relations of the railway administrations with the government, but also on their internal structure.· The Caucasus alone would have been enough to incline him to seek peace in external relations.· Would-be practitioners of planning did not clearly understand the constraints imposed on their activities by external economic relations and pressures.
· Other foreign relations Relations with the Soviet Union cooled considerably during 1990.· His appointment must be confirmed by the Senate foreign relations committee, whose chairman is now the Democrat Joe Biden.· The desire for self-sufficiency and material security has remained a key arbiter of foreign relations.· A junta official said recently that a dialogue is unnecessary as evidenced by improving foreign investments and relations.
· Importance of good personal relations with other staff.· They also were good listeners and skilled communicators, had good human relations skills, and were keenly interested in the subject.· Whipping between neighbouring families is a sign of friendship and good relations.· It is therefore good human relations to make sure that the other party in any important relationship continues to receive appropriate rewards.· Forward-looking companies realise a good atmosphere at work and good relations with colleagues are crucial to hanging on to staff.· I assume that I will continue to have good relations with the board.· But this had to be reconciled with the need for good relations with the oil-rich Arab countries.· This exercise will demonstrate why it is difficult to be regarded as good at human relations.
· This concept refers to the way ideology covers up contradictions and how it legitimizes by treating human social relations as things.· They also were good listeners and skilled communicators, had good human relations skills, and were keenly interested in the subject.· This is examined in the next chapter and it forms the basis of the human relations approach to organisations.· They will also receive an unexpected lesson in human relations.· He treated all human relations of any depth on a par with the confessional.· This linking of the human relations approach with scientific management targets will provide the recipe for effective performance.· Vitamin C.. Good human relations begin with the understanding that every person is unique.
· Such variables are too specific to industrial relations to be included in the flashpoints model of public disorder.· There is evidence that higher levels within organisations have an important influence on workplace personnel and industrial relations practices.· A general policy not to consult with employees of, say, a particular grade, runs contrary to good industrial relations.· We have also legislated five times to transform industrial relations, returning power from militants to ordinary union members.· Nationalization in the transport industries produced neither outstanding industrial relations nor employee commitment.· It contrasts markedly with similar past projects which often suffered from appalling industrial relations and were sometimes years late.· However, a possible limitation of this approach is that industrial relations variables are themselves frequently clustered into national contexts.· A brief overview of comparative industrial relations in Chapter 10 completes the book.
· Overall, the crux of this six-point programme is the claim that Realism is a scientific way of thinking about international relations.· States form an interlocking network of bilateral and multilateral treaty relationships, which reinforces the interdependence that characterises contemporary international relations.· Modern and contemporary history: International relations.· The media tell it whenever they present international relations as a dramatic encounter between world leaders who personify their countries.· She will take a two-year M Phil in international relations.· In its place, Carr proposed an approach that saw international relations as they were, rather than as they might be.· Chapter 5 asks whether it is possible to develop a theory of international relations wholly at the level of the international system.· He has a degree in economics and international relations, works for the government, and has travelled abroad.
· Alternatively they may be subsumed within the department and treated as a poor relation.· Some people underestimate the problems that can arise from poor human relations.· I enquired about poor relations, in case anyone thought they had been done out of all this prosperity.· Bill Wyman's Framus Star bass is another example of a poor relation whose profile rocketed alongside the fame of its player.· Pauken, whose late-starting campaign caught people by surprise, has poor relations with Texas elected officials, particularly Gov.· The figures for 1988 graduates suggest that the polys are still poor relations.· Proposed changes in the clinical career structure should make clinical nursing less of a poor relation in terms of financial recognition and status.
· Even worse, some think public relations stands in the way of getting at the real facts.· Their public image is all important. Public relations and advertising gurus have taken over the dialogue.· In theory it was mainly a public relations job.· She joined Hearst in 1985 as vice president, director of public relations for the Magazines Division.· Armstrong thought the society's problems were too intractable even for his prodigious public relations skills, and turned down the offer.· In fact, you could say the average public relations executive's world is littered with messages to send the client.· In a major public relations push, Pillsbury boosted the prize this year to $ 1 million.
· These are new antagonisms which emerge as social conflict is diffused to more social relations.· Autonomy of reasoning and affect continues to develop in social relations that encourage mutual respect.· Critical rationality could not be a property of individuals; it was a product of a certain set of social relations.· In so far as socialism means the collective ownership and management of the economy and social relations, it requires an extensive administrative apparatus.· Fourthly, ideology legitimizes social relations and covers over contradictions in the material relations of social being.· These social relations are specifically class relations that replicate the domination of nature in the domination of one class by another.· Progress he argued was held back or deformed by the contradictions between the social relations of production and the forces of production.· The task of bureaucracy was precisely to maintain a system of social relations which consolidate class domination.
NOUN· Firestone's view of gender relations as determined by reproduction is the clearest case.· Legal forms not only constitute gender relations but represent ways of seeing roles and relations.· Where did this leave everyone else in the gender relations business?· An alternative way of looking at higher education is to see it as a continuing process in the reproduction of gender relations.· The power exerted over black and women patients is inevitably a manifestation of larger race, class and gender relations.· Humanist psychologists realize that gender relations affect this subject.· Feminism, like psychology, is structured around a defined object, gender relations.· The reproduction of gender relations is neither outside the class system nor is it reducible to it.
· New labour relations are being introduced in industries where they were technologically or politically unthinkable a decade ago.· Critics were quick to blame the government for the new levels of strife and violence in labour relations.· Over the past 12 years, we have transformed labour relations.· Informal labour relations tend to be more exploitative than those within the legitimate economy.· He believes this is the result of a highly-educated and willing workforce with an excellent labour relations record.· The Authority also had specific powers over the retail tariffs and labour relations machinery of the Area Boards.· Some industries acquired chairmen with a reputation for cost-cutting and a tough stand on labour relations.
· In spite of victory, Britain's participation in two world wars accelerated social changes, altering both social attitudes and power relations.· Lest it be forgotten, in power relations, one can get burned!· In terms of power relations, the odds were stacked against him.· The international economic system is a ratified system of power relations.· The other way in which he could compensate for unfavourable power relations was through effective public relations.· They believed that the federal government was sponsoring a threatening rearrangement of local power relations.· The cocoa trade provides a stark reflection of the power relations behind South-North trade.· I told him it was really about power relations.
· Last week's story coincided with the report on race relations in Brixton prison.· It won the Shomburg Award for race relations in 1944.· The region could face action for breaches of race relations and education acts if the commission upheld complaints it has received.· None the less, no positive action to improve race relations in Washington was taken.· This is a story of continuing progress, from the barbarity of slavery to the enlightenment of the contemporary race relations industry.· The rancorous case has been a political and emotional flashpoint for the city and a barometer of race relations in New York.· A new race relations act had been introduced, supposedly to counter white racism.· As mayor of Indianapolis, he grappled with race relations during the turbulent 1960s.
VERB· The original base figure which is adjusted annually may bear no relation to the true needs of the department.· The punishment in this instance is not arbitrary; it bears some relation to the punishable behavior.· The yardage on the card often bears little relation to the club you select.· It bore no relation to the equivalent of aerodynamic facts, namely, anthropological evidence as a whole.· They bear little enough relation to the land that now lies west of Jerusalem.· Numbers also bear an important relation to people.· Thus housekeeping allowances might bear little relation to the portion of the husband's net income devoted to collective expenditure.· This bull market bears no relation to that gambling spree.
· Nyerere was the first to break off relations.· Moscow has already threatened to break diplomatic relations with any country that recognizes a Chechen diplomatic office.· I seemed to have a separate brain for each limb, but they'd all broken off diplomatic relations.· Astonishingly, Pound did not break off relations.
· Kostunica has said that he accepts the Dayton borders, and wishes to establish diplomatic relations with Bosnia.· In the eighties the two countries began to establish trade relations.· Many have spent years establishing close working relations with officials in Guangdong, Fujian and Hainan Island.· An interstate council was to be established to monitor relations between the states and central government.
· He also vowed to maintain ties with the United States while continuing to improve relations with the Soviet Union.· A junta official said recently that a dialogue is unnecessary as evidenced by improving foreign investments and relations.· And they send over their secretary of state to praise you for trying to improve relations and then they resume financial assistance.· Political revenge can be sweet, but it does not improve relations across the aisle or across town.· Local police officers will be encouraged to attend to improve local relations.· He says his aim is not to harass police, but to improve relations between law enforcement and the public.
· Because the government abandoned any formal incomes policy there was less call for it to maintain close relations with union leaders.· For the most part members of the Non-Aligned Movement, many of these states maintain good relations with countries hostile to the Soviet Union.· Whether one person will permit or maintain social relations with another is a matter with which government has no concern.· Notice that we maintain the relation COURSE-MODULE.· She did everything possible to maintain excellent relations with her immediate supervisor.· The Profitboss seeks profit by maintaining excellent relations with suppliers, staff, customers and colleagues alike.
· The key to restoring any damaged relation ship is the willingness of both parties to try. 9.· She had set much store by retaining or restoring her relations with these men, and thought she knew why.· As Carr pointed out, it was impossible to restore market relations in agriculture without doing the same for industry.· At the end of their meeting it was announced that an agreement had been reached to restore full consular relations.· The announcement led to speculation that the Soviet government was intending to restore diplomatic relations with El Salvador.
· In the event the idea was allowed to drop because the Emperor realized it would strain relations with Britain.· The Chirac-Kohl coolness forms part of a growing pattern of strained personal relations among world leaders.· Clinton put the emphasis on smoothing strained relations.· At the same time, overcrowding aggravates strained relations, Freeman said.
PHRASES FROM THE ENTRY► relationsPHRASES FROM OTHER ENTRIES► East-West relations/trade etc
- Where is Fort Collins in relation to Denver?
- Every person knew where and who he was in relation to every other person.
- He only existed in relation to Ryder's, and by extension Waugh's, lugubrious loathing for what the future held.
- In most cases the literature which we discuss offers clear priorities and quite explicit points of view in relation to photographic cultures.
- It is a deeply problematic book, particularly in relation to its hugely successful sequel.
- Of practical concern to the consumer is information regarding the pricing of eggs in relation to size.
- On the other hand, special relativity tells us something deep about physical reality, in relation to the nature of time.
- One approach centres on analysis of the rhetoric of the image in relation to looking, and the desire to look.
- Take a look at the damage from another angle, this time in relation to other local stocks.
- How have relations between fellow workers changed in the flexible workplace?
- Bellow supported Roth's early work, and Roth's work was to bear a resemblance to Bellow's.
- The medical model is explicit: Teaching bears a resemblance to the practice of medicine.
- But carnal knowledge sours his relationship with his clients, and paradise is lost.
- It is the threesome of snake, Eve, and Adam which, according to the Bible, makes for carnal knowledge.
- The fruit was carnal knowledge, and everybody from Thomas Aquinas to Milton knew it.
- All of its close relatives except one make the whine but not the chuck.
- Because the government abandoned any formal incomes policy there was less call for it to maintain close relations with union leaders.
- Because, they argued, the males in coalitions were almost always close relatives, kin selection enhanced the benefits of cooperation.
- But they are thinking about commercial applications for the chanterelle and its close relative, the Tricholoma matsutake.
- Financial need, even on the part of a close relative, has apparently never been seen as a situation which required an automatic response.
- It may also be powerful between close relatives where one may be in a dominant position vis-à-vis the other.
- The people who had saved my life were my close relations!
- We let grandparents and other close relatives and friends enter and touch the infant, if the parents wish.
- A large part of his wealth is in a country with which Britain does not have diplomatic relations.
- Bonn has not cut official diplomatic relations with Baghdad but it withdrew all diplomatic personnel long ago.
- Kostunica has said that he accepts the Dayton borders, and wishes to establish diplomatic relations with Bosnia.
- Stories, however, have circulated that the Bush administration may be more open than was President Clinton to resuming diplomatic relations.
- That cooperation was crucial for the Clinton administration to win congressional support to lift a wartime trade embargo and normalize diplomatic relations.
- Again, applications may be made by the nearest relative or an approved social worker and two medical recommendations are required.
- Also, as Sheila Silcock's article highlights, the nearest relative may be unaware of their rights under the Act.
- As the nearest relative, I have found the care team bound by rules of confidentiality which limit communication.
- Further protostome diversification led to a plexus of annelids, molluscs and near relatives.
- In 1357 he is required by statute to entrust the administration of the property to the near relations of the deceased.
- Specially trained staff interviewed the parents or the nearest relative of any study child who died.
- The informant was expected usually to be the person's nearest relative. 3.
- The three woodpeckers are different from their nearest relatives in Java and Borneo.
- Alternatively they may be subsumed within the department and treated as a poor relation.
- Build quality and sound are as good as I expected, so these guitars are definitely not poor relations.
- I enquired about poor relations, in case anyone thought they had been done out of all this prosperity.
- In the considered opinion of many experts this poor relation of the industry will probably take 80% of the market by volume.
- It was furnished with a certain meanness of equipment that made them feel like poor relations.
- Pauken, whose late-starting campaign caught people by surprise, has poor relations with Texas elected officials, particularly Gov.
- She moved in this atmosphere not quite as an equal, but not quite as a poor relation, either.
WORD FAMILYnounrelationrelationsrelationshiprelativeadjectiverelated ≠ unrelatedrelativeverbrelateadverbrelatively
1between people/countries relations [plural] a)official connections between countries, companies, organizations etcrelation with Britain threatened to break off diplomatic relations with the regime.relation between Relations between the two countries have improved recently. b)the way in which people or groups of people behave towards each otherrelation between Relations between workers and management are generally good. → public relations2in relation to something formal a)used to talk about something that is connected with or compared with the thing you are talking about: Women’s earnings are still low in relation to men’s. b)formal concerning: latest developments in relation to the disease3connection [countable, uncountable] a connection between two or more things SYN relationshiprelation between the relation between prices and wages The price the meat is sold for bears no relation to (=is not connected to) the price the farmer receives.4family [countable] a member of your family SYN relative: We have relations in Canada and Scotland.relation of/to What relation are you to Jessica?close/distant relation Steve is a distant relation of my wife. → blood relation, → poor relation at poor► see thesaurus at relative5have (sexual) relations (with somebody) old-fashioned to have sex with someoneCOLLOCATIONS– Meaning 1ADJECTIVES/NOUN + relationsclose· Many Japanese favor closer relations with the U.S.good· Relations between neighbours on the estate are very good.friendly· He had begun to establish friendly relations with his co-workers.race relations (=relations between people from different races who live in the same place)· New government measures aim to improve race relations in inner cities.industrial relations (also labour relations British English, labor relations American English) (=relations between managers and workers)· Good industrial relations are in everyone’s best interests.diplomatic relations (also international/foreign relations) (=official relations between two countries)· By then, Canada and Britain had established diplomatic relations with North Korea.· This visit was the president’s most important breakthrough in international relations.community relations (=relations between different groups in society)· Two police officers are responsible for community relations in the area.verbsbreak off relations· After the incident, Croatia broke off all relations with Serbia.establish/develop relations· The company has tried to establish relations with several universities.maintain relations· The Indian government had sought to maintain good relations with China.restore/resume relations (=begin them again after they were stopped or interrupted)· Kenya and Uganda agreed to restore full diplomatic relations.improve relations· The government emphasized the need to improve relations with neighbouring countries.sour relations (=make them less friendly)· The dispute has soured relations between the two countries.enjoy good relations (=have good relations)· For years, the company enjoyed good relations with its workersCOLLOCATIONS– Meaning 4ADJECTIVES/NOUN + relationa close relation (=a brother, parent, aunt etc)· Many of her close relations live nearby.a distant relation· He was some distant relation of Pollitt’s wife.a blood relation (=one related by birth not marriage)· It seems natural to share a house with blood relations.phrasesa relation by marriage· She’s a relation by marriage because she married my cousin.friends and relations· We miss our friends and relations in the UK.