authorities

«authorities» in Mova's school dictionary: The authorities: the people or organisations in charge… — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 1 sentence of Mova's corpora that use it.

part of speech

noun, plural (the authorities); singular authority (an authority)

meaning for a pupil

1) The authorities: the people or organisations in charge, such as the police, the government or the council. tree →

2) Experts who know a great deal about a subject (an authority on birds). tree →

3) Plural of authority: the power or right to give orders or make decisions. tree →

sense in the lessons

In everyday life and safety: «report it to the authorities», «the local authorities closed the road». In news stories it means police or officials. In science or history, «authorities» can be the experts or books you trust. Phrases: the local authorities, the health authorities, school authorities.

examples

• The authorities closed the beach because of sharks. tree →
• If you find something dangerous, tell the authorities. tree →
• The school authorities sent a letter home. tree →
• Health authorities say we should wash our hands often. tree →
• She is one of the leading authorities on dinosaurs. tree →
• The local authorities fixed the broken streetlight. tree →
• The lost hikers were found by the authorities. tree →
• We'll hand you over to the authorities. tree →

note

«The authorities» is plural and usually takes a plural verb: the authorities are. Singular «authority» can also be uncountable meaning power (She has authority over the class). In the UK a «local authority» is the council. Not the same as «author».

In the corpora

• Judas, one of the twelve disciples, betrayed Jesus to the authorities for thirty pieces of silver.

Trees and pragmatics

Every meaning and example of «authorities» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.