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fairyland
distance. | The colours became fainter and fainter as the sun sank. | She made a faint attempt at a smile. | faint memories 3 very small; slight: Our chances of victory are now very faint. 1 (infm) I haven't the faintest idea what you're talking about. -> see also damn with faint praise (DAMN^5) 4 faint heart never won fair lady saying you must act with courage or spirit if you want to achieve success —ly adv —ness n [U]
faint^2 v [I] to lose consciousness unexpectedly: The young soldier fainted in the hot sun. | I nearly fainted when they told me the price.
faint^3 n an act or condition of fainting: She fell down in a (dead) faint.
faint-'hearted adj lacking courage or spirit; cowardly —ly adv —ness n [U]
fair^1 /feər/ adj 1 free from injustice, dishonesty, or self-interest: a fair decision | You must be fair to both sides. (=treat them both equally) | He was late for the meeting but to be fair he didn't know about it until this morning. | It's not fair! Why should she always have first choice? | That was a perfectly fair tackle. (=allowed by the rules of the game) | [F-to-v] I think it's fair to say that she was not to blame for the accident. | They've brought an adjudicator in to see fair play (=make sure everyone is treated justly) in the competition. | They are determined to win the election by fair means or foul. (=in any way, honest or dishonest) -> opposite UNFAIR 2 [no comp.] quite good, large etc; reasonable: His knowledge of the language is fair. | Her written work is excellent, but her practical work is only fair-to-middling. | She has a fair-sized garden. | I think I've got a fair idea (=a reasonable understanding) of what the job involves. | The builders are making good progress but they still have a fair way to go. (=quite a lot more to do) 3 (having skin or hair that is) light in colour; not dark: a fair complexion 4 (of weather etc) not stormy; clear: a fair sky 5 favourable to a ship's course: a fair wind 6 especially old use (of a woman) beautiful 7 [A] pleasing but not sincere; I believed his fair promises. 8 [A no comp.] infml (used to give force to an expression) real: It's a fair treat to hear her sing. 9 fair enough infml all right; satisfactory -> see also FAIRLY 10 with my own fair hands infml, humor using my own hands 11 all's fair in love and war saying in some situations any method of achieving what one wants is acceptable —ness n [U]
fair^2 also ,fair and 'square adv 1 in a just or honest manner, or according to the rules; fairly: You must play fair (and square). 2 straight; directly: I hit him fair (and square) on the nose.
fair^3 n 1 especially BrE a place of outdoor entertainment, with large machines to ride on and other amusements; FUN-FAIR 2 a market, especially one held at a particular place at regular periods for selling farm produce: a cattle fair 3 AmE a yearly event at which farm products and equipment are shown and entered in competitions, and amusements are offered for people of all ages: the De Kalb County Fair 4 a very large show of goods, advertising etc: a book fair 5 an occasion when articles are sold and games are played to raise money for CHARITY; FETE
fair 'copy n a clean perfect copy of a piece of writing: My report is finished but it's very messy - I need time to make a fair copy.
fair din-kum /feə 'dɪŋkəm||'fear-/ adj, adv AustrE infml honest(ly); real(ly)
fair 'game n [U(for)] someone or something that it is easy or reasonable to attack; an easy TARGET: His idiotic speech was fair game for his opponents.
fair-ground /'feəgraʊnd||'fear-/ n an open space on which a FAIR is held
fair-ing /'feərɪŋ/ n a smooth rounded cover for an engine, part of a vehicle etc, that allows the air to flow smoothly over it
fair isle n, adj [U] (a style of KNITTING or KNITTED GARMENT) having bands of a repeated pattern worked in several colours against a plain background (from Fair Isle one of the Shetland Islands, where the style came from)
Fair Isle 1 one of the SHETLAND ISLANDS 2 in SHIPPING FORECASTS, an area of the northeast Atlantic Ocean which includes ORKNEY and the Shetland Islands
fair-ly /'feəli||'ferli/ adv 1 in a manner that is free from injustice, dishonesty, or self-interest: I felt they hadn't treated me fairly. -> opposite UNFAIRLY 2 to some degree; rather; quite: Cut the meat fairly small, but not too small. | It's fairly hot today. | a fairly difficult exercise 3 infml completely: He fairly rocketed past us on his motorbike.
USAGE Compare fairly, rather, and quite when used with adjectives and adverbs. 1 Notice the word order in front of nouns: It's a fairly/rather good book. | It's rather/quite a good book. 2 Fairly is the least strong and rather the strongest of the three. Compare It's a fairly good book (=not too bad) and It's a rather good book (=I really think it's good). 3 Rather can sometimes have the meaning 'too much': It's rather warm in here, isn't it? (=let's open a window) -> see also QUITE (USAGE), RATHER (USAGE)
,fair-'minded adj apprec fair in judgment; just; giving equal treatment
,fair 'play n [U] 1 playing according to the rules of a game 2 BrE just treatment without cheating or dishonesty. British people think of themselves as putting special value on fair play. -> see also CRICKET
,fair 'sex, the n old-fash women considered as a group; GENTLE SEX
,fair 'trade n [U] the activity of making, buying, and selling goods in a way that is morally right. It involves making sure that international LABOUR laws are obeyed, and that HUMAN RIGHTS and the environment are protected. The producer must be given a fair price for the goods, and the goods must be of good quality. As a result, fair trade products are sometimes more expensive than ordinary products. Special LABELS are used on goods to show that they have been produced in a fair trade arrangement: fair trade bananas -> compare FREE TRADE
CULTURAL NOTE Ethical Purchasing and Investment
Some CONSUMERS want to buy products, especially food products, which have been grown or made in a way which does not damage the environment or EXPLOIT the people who make the products (=treat them in an unfair way, by not paying them as much as they deserve). A rather formal phrase for this practice is ETHICAL PURCHASING and many SUPERMARKETS in the UK and US sell ORGANIC food, which has been grown without harming the environment, and 'fairtrade food', for which the producers have been paid a fair amount. Some people also want to make sure that they only make INVESTMENTS in companies which are behaving in a morally correct way. For example, they refuse to invest in companies involved in the ARMS TRADE (=buying and selling weapons) or which have poor environmental standards. This practice is known as ETHICAL INVESTMENT in the UK and SOCIALLY RESPONSIBLE INVESTMENT in the US.
Fair-trade /'feətreɪd||'fear-/ trademark a BRAND NAME of Fair-trade Labelling Organizations International, an organization which encourages people to buy things that have been produced according to the principles of fair trade. This organization also controls the labelling (LABEL) of fair trade products.
fair-way /'feəweɪ||'fear-/ n the part of a GOLF COURSE along which one hits the ball in order to get to the GREEN where the hole is
'fair-,weather adj [A] present in times of success but absent in times of trouble (especially in the phrase a fair-weather friend)
fai-ry /'feəri/ n 1 a usually small imaginary figure with magical powers and shaped like a human 2 derog a HOMOSEXUAL man who behaves in a female way -> see also TOOTH FAIRY
'fairy ,cake n BrE a very small cake
,fairy 'godmother n infml a person who helps, and especially saves, someone who is in trouble (from a story in which Cinderella, an unhappy young woman, is able to go to a BALL only because her fairy godmother suddenly appears and magically produces a beautiful dress and a carriage to take her there) -> see also CINDERELLA
fai-ry-land /'feərɪlənd/ n 1 [U] the land where fairies live 2 [S] a place of delicate and magical beauty