focus

fo|cus¹ W2 [ˈfəukəs US ˈfou-] v past tense and past participle focused or focussed present participle focusing or focussing

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1¦(give attention to something)¦

2¦(camera/telescope)¦

3¦(eyes)¦

4¦(light)¦

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[Date: 1600-1700; : Latin; Origin: 'hearth (= place for a fire in a house)']

1.) ¦(GIVE ATTENTION TO SOMETHING)¦ [I and T]

to give special attention to one particular person or thing, or to make people do this

focus on

▪ He felt he needed to focus more on his career.

focus your attention/mind/efforts on sth

▪ She tried to focus her mind on her work.

focus (sb's) mind/attention (on sth)

(=make people give their attention to something)

▪ We need to focus public attention on this issue.

2.) ¦(CAMERA/TELESCOPE)¦ [I and T]

to point a camera or ↑telescope at something, and change the controls slightly so that you can see that thing clearly

focus on

▪ She turned the camera and focussed on Martin's face.

focus sth on sth

▪ He focused his binoculars on the building opposite.

3.) ¦(EYES)¦ [I and T]

if your eyes focus, or if you focus your eyes, you look at something and can see it clearly

focus on

▪ All eyes focussed on her.

▪ His eyes were focussed straight ahead.

4.) ¦(LIGHT)¦ [T]

if you focus beams of light, you aim them onto a particular place

focus ²

focus² W2 n

1.) [singular]

the thing, person, situation etc that people pay special attention to

▪ The focus of recent research has been on environmental issues.

focus of

▪ The war in Bosnia had become the focus of media attention .

▪ The focus of interest in the series is what goes on in everyday life.

▪ Another focus of feminist debate has been the film industry.

▪ I shall now turn to the main focus of this essay.

▪ Eggs became the focus for the food poisoning scare.

▪ The focus of the conference shifted from population growth to the education of women.

2.) [U]

if your focus is on something, that is the thing you are giving most attention to

focus on

▪ Our main focus is on helping people get back into work.

▪ a shift of focus

3.) come into focus/bring sth into focus

if something comes into focus, or you bring it into focus, people start to talk about it and pay attention to it

▪ These issues have recently come into sharp focus (=people have started to talk about them a lot) .

4.) in focus/out of focus

if a photograph or an instrument such as a camera is in focus, you can see the picture clearly. If it is out of focus, you cannot see the picture clearly.

5.) [U]

the clearness of the picture seen through an instrument such as a camera

▪ He raised his binoculars and adjusted the focus.

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COLLOCATES for sense 1

the focus is on something

the focus of attention/concern/interest

the focus of debate

the main/central/primary focus (of something)

become the focus (of/for something)

provide a focus (for something)

shift the focus (of something)

the focus shifts (from something) (to something)

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