equal to
8
2.8
- idiom
- /ˈiːkwəl tuː/
- Many students are equal to the academic demands of high school if they study hard.
Examples
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Fishery catch totals for spiny lobster were equal to or greater than those of slipper lobster during 1985-88.
Academic text (1990) -
After months of training, she felt equal to the challenge of running a marathon.
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It's the theory that women should be equal to men in matters economic, social...
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I feel equal to anything now.
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I imagine she would be equal to it if she set her mind to it.
Fiction book (1990) -
Well, my passion is equal to the task.
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However, teachers expect gifted children to have social skills equal to or greater than non-gifted children.
Academic text (1991) -
He had a sense of himself as being equal to and belonging in the world of the powerful and the elite.
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I'm inclined to think Mr. Raymond is equal to the task.
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It is a self-evident truth that things which are equal to the same thing are equal to each other.
Synonyms
634
2.8
Good enough to do something
Antonyms
How Capable
Surface Forms
Morphology
equal + to
The meaning 'having the necessary ability or qualities for something' is directly derived from 'equal' (adequate, matching) combined with the preposition 'to' marking the target; the relation is compositional and predictable. This adjective + preposition pattern is cross-linguistically common and follows standard English usage, so a B1 learner who knows the constituent words will readily infer the MWE meaning.
Etymology
The phrase equal to comes from the image of a scale where one side is equal to the other. So, if you are equal to a task, you are 'able to do' it.