connection

connexion BrE noun

1 STH THAT CONNECTS THINGS (C) the way in which two facts, ideas, events etc are related to each other, and one is affected or caused by the other

(+ between): the connection between smoking and cancer (+ with): His statement had no connection with anything that had gone before. | find/establish a connection (=prove or discover that something is connected with something else): Police have so far failed to establish a connection between the two murders. | make a connection (=realize that there is a connection): The evidence was there in the file but no one made the connection. -see relationship

2 JOINING THINGS TOGETHER (U) the joining together of two or more things: Connection to the water mains takes only a few minutes.

3 in connection with concerning something: The police are interviewing two men in connection with the robbery.

4 ELECTRICAL WIRE (C) a wire or piece of metal joining two parts of a machine or electrical system: loose connection (=one that is not joined properly): My radio isn't working properly - I think it's got a loose connection.

5 TRAIN/BUS ETC (C) a train, bus, or plane which is arranged to leave at a time which allows passengers from an earlier train, bus, or plane to use it to continue their journey: If this train gets delayed we'll miss our connection to Paris.

6 ROAD/RAILWAY ETC (C) a road, railway etc that joins two places and allows people to travel between them: Cheshunt has good rail connections to London, with trains every half hour.

7 PEOPLE connections (plural)

a) people who you know who can help you by giving you money, finding you a job etc: He used his Mafia connections to find Pablo another job.

b) people who are related to you, but not very closely: He is English, but has Irish connections.

-see relationship

8 TELEPHONE if you have a bad connection on the telephone, you are unable to hear properly because there is a lot of noise in the telephone: We had such a bad connection we gave up.