revolutionnoun
uk/ˌrev.əˈluː.ʃən/us/ˌrev.əˈluː.ʃən/revolution noun (POLITICS)
B2 [ C or U ] a change in the way a country is governed, usually to a different political system and often using violence or war:
The French Revolution changed France from a monarchy to a republic.
The country seems to be heading towards revolution.
More examples
- It was very difficult to encapsulate the story of the revolution in a single one-hour documentary.
- Tomorrow is the 30th anniversary of the revolution.
- He became a national hero for his part in the revolution.
- The whole period leading up to the revolution is an interesting chapter in British history.
- The bigger farms were parcelled out after the revolution in 1973.
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Taking action against people in power
- anarchist
- angry young man
- bring
- bring sb down
- counter-revolution
- insurgent
- mujahideen
- mutineer
- mutiny
- overthrow
- palace coup
- partisan
- poacher
- put sth down 1
- riot
- riotous
- rising
- secede
- state of emergency
- uprising
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revolution noun (CHANGE)
B2 [ C ] a very important change in the way that people do things:
a technological revolution
Penicillin produced a revolution in medicine.
More examples
- Trendspotter Faith Starr believes a revolution is going on in the world of conferencing.
- The development of high-yield varieties of rice produced a revolution in the country's agriculture.
- The new materials brought about a revolution in building technology.
- The invention marked the beginning of a revolution in information technology.
- The industrial revolution created an enormous increase in the production of many types of goods.
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Change and changes
- a change is as good as a rest idiom
- adjustment
- alteration
- blip
- changeover
- drift
- ebb
- fluctuate
- gradation
- metamorphosis
- modulate
- paradigm shift
- perversion
- punctuated equilibrium
- shake-up
- speciation
- step change
- tide
- transfigure
- twist
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revolution noun (CIRCULAR MOVEMENT)
[ S ] a circular movement:
The revolution of the earth around the sun was proposed by Copernicus.
[ C ] one complete circular movement of something, for example a wheel:
Engine speed can be measured in revolutions per minute (abbreviation rpm).
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Revolving, rotating and spinning
- centrifugal
- centripetal
- Foucault pendulum
- go round
- gyrate
- in rotation idiom
- rev
- rotation
- round and round idiom
- rpm
- sidespin
- span
- spin
- spin (sb) around
- swing
- swing (sth/sb) around
- tailspin
- twiddle
- wheel
- wheel round
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