1Bring or gather together (a number of things)

1. 1.1no object Come together and form a group.
   a small crowd collected at the back door

   Example sentencesExamples

   • A small crowd started to collect around the scene.
   • As soon as they forced an entrance, they reclosed the door, to keep out the crowd, which collected very fast, notwithstanding the lateness of the hour.
   • These minute organisms are discharged from all over a reef: How come they collect together in these long lines of froth?
   • Dense crowds collected before the Palace gates, processions of cheering, beflagged civilians and fighting men marched down the Mall.
   • Many of these bodies collected together to form the cores of the gas giants.
   • They are eating lunch and drinking in a café as the crowds collect in the town.
   • Hollin has collected together a range of individuals and collaborators to provide a concise but comprehensive overview of the principles and premises inherent in this area.
   • A large crowd had collected at the Badshah Chowk in Srinagar determined to push across towards the Assembly hall.
   • She ran towards where the crowd had collected and squeezed through it to see what had happened.
   • On the morning of the ‘big day’, all the students collect together to decide how to achieve their one express goal - wasting as much time as possible.
   • En route to Union Station, he passed the Berghoff where the early theater crowd collected.
   • As we collected ourselves and what was left of our gear, I glanced at my watch: It was 7: 45 a.m.
   • The potential blog entries of the last week or so have now collected themselves into 5 or 6 rather unorganised text files, awaiting anxiously for their author to unleash them on the outside world.
   • It defines the word assembly as a company of persons collected together in one place usually for a common purpose.
   • A mass of people has collected on the terrace of the press center and set up a kind of protest show with flags: a black one for grief, a red one for martyrdom, a green flag for Islam, and the Iraqi flag.
   • Since the particles start with zero energy, this means that by the time they have collected together to form a star or a planet they have negative energy.
   • Bellow worries somewhere in that book that the Jews may have done their enemies the favor of collecting themselves in one place so that they might be more easily destroyed; it's a worry that has remained planted in my head ever since.
   • Scott was now in the midst of the very large crowd that had collected.
   • The only unfortunate thing was that word leaked out and quite a crowd collected outside the main entrance, so we had to find an alternate exit for them.
   • When the morning came people began to talk about it and a crowd collected.

   Synonyms

   come together, get together, gather, assemble, meet, muster, cluster, rally, congregate, convene, converge, flock together

   rare foregather
2. 1.2 Systematically seek and acquire (items of a particular kind) as a hobby.
   I've started collecting stamps

   Example sentencesExamples

   • Those who have already spent time and money collecting themselves a full set of miniature fighting monsters may balk at the prospect of starting the lengthy process all over again.
   • Some people collect china animals, cuddly toys, or stamps; my mother collects Cilit Bang, Cif and Mr Sheen, all jammed into a cupboard like an alcoholic's hoard.
   • I think most people buying Gundam and Metal Gear Solid toys are older people who collect action figures rather than play with them.
   • One of a few philatelists who founded Steveston Stamp Auctions Ltd. 12 years ago, Worley began collecting stamps when he was 10.
   • As an extension to the hobby of collecting autographed photographs, over the years Willie has also collected First Day covers of postage stamps.
   • Tony Drake, 37, who owns Metier Hair Design, Main Street, Fulford, has collected a number of signed celebrity items which he will sell to the highest bidder.
   • Jimmy said his urge to start collecting began with radios, and then expanded to other items and trinkets.
   • The pieces, which span the Edo to Meiji periods, were collected by two Swiss sisters who devoted their lives to travelling the world in search of Japanese art and design.
   • Mr. G. Sethuraman, an active philatelist who has been collecting stamps since 1974, says this hobby has a high knowledge-gaining potential.
   • These days, the anorak is more likely to come from Asda than the Esso gift catalogue, but in all other respects the male obsession with collecting the serial numbers of rolling stock continues unabated.
   • Apart from collecting himself he has had notes and coins sent to him by people who know of his interest.
   • Her newest hobby is collecting each of the new Euro coins from each country.
   • He doesn't have any hobbies - doesn't collect anything or travel anywhere; doesn't read or listen to music.
   • Like millions of others, I collected stamps as a boy and still do on a small scale.
   • I want to know what drives the urge to, say, collect Roman coins, or trace the family history back to Charlemagne, or tie flies for hours on end in some dank basement workshop.
   • The trouble with that sort of business is that, if you collect yourself, you take the best stock home and the shop gets a bit deprived.
   • This interest has led to him collecting a large number of classical records and CD's from Mozart to the Beatles.
   • Some background information: I collect Samsonite Suitcases, of a specific time period.
   • The spotters were accused of endangering national security by collecting the serial numbers of planes with two reports by the Greek security services agreeing that the information was classified.
   • They tend to be accumulators, and they collect the strangest things, and once they are collected, they cannot be gotten rid of.
3. 1.3 Accumulate over a period of time.
   collect rainwater to use on the garden

   Example sentencesExamples

   • Together with the dust that collects in the fan the worn out bearing suddenly stops the rotation of the fan.
   • I wandered around a bit and ended up by the two big tanks that collect rainwater from our roof.
   • I didn't mean to imply that money deposited in a bank was simply collecting lint in the pockets of bankers.
   • No two ways about it, the place was thick with dirt and clumps of dust that had collected over the years it'd been neglected.
   • Some collect and store this moisture in their trunks.
   • So the bile, or gall, drains from the liver through bile ducts, collects in your gall bladder, and the gall bladder squirts it out on request.
   • Iodine collects in the thyroid, so this little capsule, tipped into my hand out of a canister so no-one else would have to touch it, targets that gland and destroys it.
   • The only maintenance required is a monthly hose down of the knurled surface to remove the dirt which collects there.
   • At home, anywhere water collects is an ideal breeding ground.
   • And one of the results may be that fluid collects in the middle ear and stays there for a long period of time.
   • The leaves and rubbish that collect around the base harbour insects for geckos to feast on, while providing cover from predators.
   • The dust worn from the mousing surface collects on the feet of the MS Optical mouse.
   • To counter the drain on scarce water supplies, rainwater will be collected in underground tanks and a new breed of wildlife-rich village pond.
   • At present rain water is being collected in large storage dams and reticulated to the end consumer via a network of pipes, pumps and treatment plant to ensure drinking water quality.
   • We know the organism likes to collect in air-conditioning systems and we know it can be controlled.
   • The chemical information gleaned by the VN system is more specialized than that which is collected by the olfactory system.
   • A trickle of subterranean water, which fell on the plateau weeks before, collects in a culvert for the villagers.
   • Rainwater can be collected in plenty during rainy seasons, but we waste it by allowing it to flow into the sea.
   • Like most writers, I collected an unbelievable number of rejections for things I'd written in the past.
   • They point the telescope at one small region of the sky and just let it sit there, gradually collecting the tiny number of photons that are coming to us from these galaxies in the early universe.

   Synonyms

   gather, accumulate, assemble

2Call for and take away; fetch.

1. 2.1 Call for and obtain (payments) from a number of people.
   he collected their rent each week

   Example sentencesExamples

   • A few days later he delivers them and collects the payment.
   • The 500-square-meter block is owned by a businessman known to the residents as Junaidi, who comes and collects the rent every month.
   • She's moved a few miles away from my patch and asked if I would still collect her payments, because she was used to me calling.
   • When a fine is imposed it should be collected as quickly and efficiently as possible.
   • The night before his murder he had been round the estate collecting payment from his customers.
   • The charges will be collected on a monthly basis with a credit period of 30 days.
   • Fakhruz Zaman approached Shemon Miah when he called at the Saffron Spice restaurant in Peatmoor on behalf of his father to collect a bill payment from the owner, Swindon Crown Court was told.
   • Should I call at the house and collect the rent each month or set up a standing order?
   • Inability to collect payment inhibited electrification, especially in informal settlements where few households had registered addresses.
   • This payment will be collected by Friday of next week, or we will send representatives to personally collect the fine.
   • If you have less than £1, 000 of extra tax to pay this can be collected via the PAYE system by an alteration of your tax code.
   • The rents that are collected are presently insufficient to cover these costs as well as other overheads.
   • All the money collected in fixed penalty fines went to the authority administering the scheme, making it self-funding.
   • With improved productivity, the nobility could now collect higher rents and obtain greater profits from the sale of surplus agricultural goods.
   • Secondly, there was in fact no agreed modification of the licence agreements during the relevant period post termination, while the fees were being collected by SCL.
   • He refused to comply with Henry's demand to accept a delay in payment and set about collecting his due by main force.
   • McNamara said that one way of gauging whether the tenants are looking after a property correctly is by collecting the rent yourself once a month from the house.
   • Rennies Travel's Mercia Schultz said yesterday that the tax would have to be collected manually by consultants as the system had not yet been programmed electronically.
   • Debt collectors are not bailiffs and cannot attempt to collect payment by taking direct action, such as seizing goods.
2. 2.2 Go somewhere and receive (something) as a right or award.
   she came to Oxford to collect her honorary degree

   Example sentencesExamples

   • Herrick didn't win, but within five years, her Babs Radon label had collected numerous fashion awards and had featured repeatedly on the pages of Vogue.
   • For McGeeney, this is his third All Star award while McConville collected his second.
   • He moved to Sweden with his wife but returned to the US in 1972 to collect a special Academy award.
   • Next month, he and Charles have a date with the Queen at Buckingham Palace to collect the MBEs awarded them in the New Year's Honours.
   • Jackson has been ignored twice by Academy Award voters. if there's any justice, come February, he'll be collecting the best director award.
   • In his career Bob hosted 18 Oscar ceremonies but never managed to secure one for himself despite collecting hundreds of other awards.
   • The timing of the incident could not have been more symbolic - it came while Karzai was away in Britain collecting an honorary knighthood from the Queen.
   • Within six months of taking over the pub Mr Hughes had collected a clutch of awards and was well on course to achieve his dream of a Michelin star during his first year of trading, but the explosion left his ambition in tatters.
   • Smith, though, fainted after the game and was unable to collect his man-of-the-match award from the sponsors.
   • The 72 year old was in town to collect an honorary ACTRA award.
   • Guest of honour at the official opening of Thornden Hall was internationally renowned percussionist Miss Evelyn Glennie, who has collected a string of awards.
   • Sir Michael Bichard, who was chairman of Bradford's Capital of Culture executive board, spoke as he was in the city to collect an honorary degree from the university for his work on the bid.
   • The 54-year-old actress is speaking to me at the America Film Festival in Deauville, where she is collecting a lifetime achievement award.
   • He received an MBE in 1998 and yesterday attended a special graduation ceremony at the City Hall in Sheffield to collect his latest award.
   • After today's race Tergat is off to America to collect an honorary degree from a New York university.
   • Fancy dress store Masquerade collected the customer friendly award, while chocolate maker Thorntons was named Croydon's best food or drink retailer.
   • Battier's varied gifts as a player make him the favorite to claim all the awards Martin collected this season.
   • Football legend Jack Charlton declared himself ‘delighted’ to be back in Leeds as he collected an honorary degree yesterday.
   • It is Heston's Oscar-winning delivery that gives them stature and status, even if it is 40 years since he collected his Academy award for his performance in Ben Hur.
   • It's always unpleasant when individuals who've worked on a second or third-rate film collect a batch of awards.
3. 2.3 Ask for and receive (charitable donations)
   they were collecting money for the war effort

   Example sentencesExamples

   • Money is collected for charity when staff at Marshalls, who have a head office in Halifax and plants across Yorkshire ‘dress down’ on the last Friday of the month.
   • Along with other donations, a total of £1, 200 was collected for Cancer Research.
   • One day as he leisurely strolls through London, he bumps into Pamela, a beautiful woman who is collecting donations for some charity.
   • A further £300 was collected for her in lieu of flowers at the funeral of former Steeton pub landlord Sid Dearden, who died in March just months after moving to Lanzarote.
   • The Silver Anniversary was always going to be special and on the day over 20,000 has been collected for the various charities.
   • The legislation also authorizes NASA to collect gifts and donations, over the next five years, for the Columbia Memorial.
   • The funeral took place this morning at St Peter's Church in Mill Hill where donations were collected for MacMillan Nurses.
   • He said he also volunteers for a library and for a Pagan Pride Day that collects donations for charities.
   • Local priest, Canon Joseph Cooney, said he was surprised and saddened that robbers would enter the local church and take money that had been collected for such a worthy cause.
   • The Ministry of Education has ordered all schools under its jurisdiction to stop collecting charitable donations from students.
   • The above wish to thank all who contributed so generously to their recent collection and also all those who collected at the masses.
   • The fund was founded as the Blackburn District Nurses Amenity Fund Charity in 1954 to collect donations from grateful patients and their relatives.
   • A nice website has been established in her memory and a charitable trust is collecting donations to support the kinds of causes for which she gave her life.
   • There was an excellent response at the recent Cemetery Mass in Roslea Cemetery, Easkey when a total of E807. was collected for the upkeep of the grounds.
   • His medical bill was paid by the ‘Friends of Hadassah’ a Jewish charity group which collects donations from Jews all over the world.
   • The Lord Mayor's appeal team will be among the crowd collecting for this year's charities Manorlands and the Arthritis Research Campaign.
   • Thankfully a large sum of money has been collected for the Irish Wheelchair Association.
   • At a recent function in the village's memorial hall, the residents presented her with a bouquet of flowers and £910 that had been collected in the community.
   • The financing structure is not just a bunch of charitable institutions collecting donations and dispensing funds.
   • Over 7,000 was collected for this worthy cause.

   Synonyms

   raise, appeal for, ask for, ask people to give, solicit, secure, obtain, acquire, gather

3collect oneselfRegain control of oneself, typically after a shock.

1. 3.1 Concentrate (one's thoughts)
   she returned to her room to collect her thoughts

   Example sentencesExamples

   • I was met with great compassion and it was suggested that I go to my room, collect my thoughts and let them know what I wanted to do.

   Synonyms

   muster, summon (up), gather (together), get together, rally, call into action, marshal, mobilize, screw up

4archaic Conclude; infer.

5Cause (a horse) to bring its hind legs further forward as it moves.

6Australian NZ informal Collide with.

(with reference to a telephone call) to be paid for by the person receiving it.

A winning bet.

(in church use) a short prayer, especially one assigned to a particular day or season.