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focus

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verb [intransitive/transitive] British English pronunciation: focus /ˈfəʊkəs/ 
Word Forms
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present tense
I/you/we/theyfocus
he/she/itfocusses or focuses
present participlefocusing or focussing
past tensefocused or focussed
past participlefocused or focussed

Related dictionary definitions

  1. 1
    to concentrate on something and pay particular attention to it

    I know you’re tired, but try to focus.

    focus on/upon:

    We will focus upon three main topics.

    focus attention on something:

    Attention has been focused recently on the dangers of nuclear reactors.

    focus your mind on something:

    He found himself struggling to focus his mind on the discussion.

    focus solely/entirely/particularly/exclusively on something:

    Schools should not focus exclusively on exam results.

    focus efforts/energy on something:

    Efforts are now focused on cleaning up the beaches.

    Thesaurus entry for this meaning of  focusThesaurus entry for this meaning of focus
  2. 2
    to turn a part on a camera, telescope, microscope etc until you can see something clearly

    She leaned on a rock, focusing her binoculars.

    focus on:

    The television cameras were focused on the crowd.

    Thesaurus entry for this meaning of  focusThesaurus entry for this meaning of focus
  3. 3
    if your eyes focus, or if you focus your eyes, you look at something carefully until you can start to see it clearly

    It took a while for my eyes to focus in the dim light of the cave.

    focus your eyes/gaze on someone/something:

    Polly focused her gaze on Nathan.

    Thesaurus entry for this meaning of  focusThesaurus entry for this meaning of focus

This is the British English definition of focus. View American English definition of focus.

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