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Definition of intensive adjective from the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary

intensive

adjective
 
/ɪnˈtensɪv/
 
/ɪnˈtensɪv/
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  1. involving a lot of work or activity done in a short time
    • an intensive language course
    • two weeks of intensive training
    • intensive diplomatic negotiations
    • highly intensive courses for business and professional people
    Which Word? intense / intensiveintense / intensiveBoth these words can describe something that involves a lot of action in a short period of time.
    • Intense can often suggest somebody's feelings about the thing being described:
      • The course was really intense—I found it difficult to wind down at the end of each day.
    • Intensive gives a more objective description:
      • The five-day intensive course runs from 24 to 28 July.
    Topics Working lifec1
    Oxford Collocations Dictionaryverbs
    • be
    adverb
    • highly
    • very
    • increasingly
    See full entry
  2. complete and extremely detailed; done with a lot of care
    • His disappearance has been the subject of intensive investigation.
    Oxford Collocations Dictionaryverbs
    • be
    adverb
    • highly
    • very
    • increasingly
    See full entry
  3. (of methods of farming) aimed at producing as much food as possible using as little land or as little money as possible
    • Traditionally reared animals grow more slowly than those reared under intensive farming conditions.
    • intensive agriculture
    Topics Farmingc1
    Oxford Collocations Dictionaryverbs
    • be
    adverb
    • highly
    • very
    • increasingly
    See full entry
  4. see also capital-intensive, labour-intensive
    Word Originlate Middle English (in the sense ‘vehement, intense’): from French intensif, -ive or medieval Latin intensivus, from intendere ‘intend, extend, direct’, from in- ‘towards’ + tendere ‘stretch, tend’.
See intensive in the Oxford Advanced American DictionarySee intensive in the Oxford Learner's Dictionary of Academic English
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