focus

Universal Words verb, noun verb (-s- or -ss-) 1 ~ (sth) (on / upon sb/sth) to give attention, effort, etc. to one particular subject, situation or person rather than another: [V] The discussion focused on three main problems. * Each exercise focuses on a different grammar point. * [VN] The visit helped to focus world attention on the plight of the refugees. 2 ~ (sth) (on sb/sth) (of your eyes, a camera, etc.) to adapt or be adjusted so that things can be seen clearly; to adjust sth so that you can see things clearly: [V] Let your eyes focus on objects that are further away from you. * It took a few moments for her eyes to focus in the dark. * In this scene, the camera focuses on the actor's face. * [VN] He focused his blue eyes on her. * I quickly focused the camera on the children. 3 [VN] ~ sth (on sth) (technical) to aim rays of light onto a particular point using a LENS noun (plural focuses or foci ) 1 [U,C,usually sing.] ~ (for / on sth) the thing or person that people are most interested in; the act of paying special attention to sth and making people interested in it: It was the main focus of attention at the meeting. * His comments provided a focus for debate. * In today's lecture the focus will be on tax structures within the European Union. * The incident brought the problem of violence in schools into sharp focus. * We shall maintain our focus on the needs of the customer. * What we need now is a change of focus (= to look at things in a different way). 2 (also focal point) a point or distance at which the outline of an object is clearly seen by the eye or through a LENS: The children's faces are badly out of focus (= not clearly shown) in the photograph. * The binoculars were not in focus (= were not showing things clearly). 3 (also focal point) [C] (physics) a point at which rays or waves of light, sound, etc. meet after REFLECTION or REFRACTION; the point from which rays or waves of light, sound, etc. seem to come 4 [C] (geology) the point at which an earthquake starts to happen