- [countable, uncountable]
the way in which two people or things are not like each other; the way in which somebody/something has changed 差别；差异；不同（之处）；变化（之处） Americans and Brits speak the same language, but there are big cultural differences. 美国人和英国人说同一种语言，但有很大的文化差异。 - difference between A and B
There are no significant differences between the education systems of the two countries. 这两国的教育制度没有大的差别。 He was studying the similarities and differences between humans and animals. 他在研究人类和动物之间的异同。 I can never tell the difference (= distinguish) between the twins. 我从来都分不清这对双胞胎。 - difference in something
There's no difference in the results. 结果没有差别。 There is a fundamental difference in approach to conservation in Japan. 日本的保护方式有着根本的不同。 She noticed a marked difference in the children on her second visit. 她第二次来访时注意到孩子们发生了明显的变化。 Her work questions notions of gender difference. 她的工作质疑性别差异的概念。 What a difference! You look great with your hair like that. 真是判若两人！你梳这种发型显得太好看了。 - difference among something
Differences among beetle species may prove to be a key factor. 甲虫物种之间的差异可能是一个关键因素。 - despite differences
Despite their differences, the two are great friends. 尽管两人有所不同，但他们是很好的朋友。
Language Bank contrastcontrastHighlighting differences 突出差异／不同 This survey highlights a number of differences in the way that teenage boys and girls in the UK spend their free time. 这项民意测验凸显出英国十几岁的男孩和女孩在打发闲暇时间上的诸多不同。
One of the main differences between the girls and the boys who took part in the research was the way in which they use the internet. 参与了这项研究的女生和男生之间的主要差异之一在于他们使用互联网的方式。
Unlike the girls, who use the internet mainly to keep in touch with friends, the boys questioned in this survey tend to use the internet for playing computer games. 女生使用互联网主要是和朋友联系，这一点和男生不同，参与调查的男生往往是使用互联网来玩电脑游戏。
The girls differ from the boys in that they tend to spend more time keeping in touch with friends on the phone or on social networking websites. 女孩和男孩的不同之处在于，她们倾向于花更多的时间通过电话或社交网站与朋友保持联系。
Compared to the boys, the girls spend much more time chatting to friends on the phone. 与男孩相比，女孩花更多的时间在电话上和朋友聊天。
On average the girls spend four hours a week chatting to friends on the phone. In contrast, very few of the boys spend more than five minutes a day talking to their friends in this way. 女生平均每周花四个小时与朋友电话聊天。相比之下，很少有男生每天以这种方式与朋友聊天五分钟以上。
The boys prefer competitive sports and computer games, whereas/while the girls seem to enjoy more cooperative activities, such as shopping with friends. 男生更喜欢竞技性体育运动和电脑游戏，而女生似乎更喜欢合作性活动，比如与朋友一起购物。
When the girls go shopping, they mainly buy clothes and cosmetics. The boys, on the other hand, tend to purchase computer games or gadgets. 女生购物时主要买衣服和化妆品，而男生往往会买电脑游戏或小器具。
Extra ExamplesTopics Opinion and argumenta1Can you spot the difference between these two photos? 你能看出这两张相片有什么不同吗 ? Customers can see the difference in quality. 客户可以看到质量的差异。 He was very aware of his difference from the other children. 他很清楚自己与其他孩子的差别。 I noticed a real difference in his attitude. 我注意到他的态度真的有所转变。 It's difficult to tell the difference between butterflies and moths. 蝴蝶和飞蛾很难区别。 One tiny mistake when you're climbing could mean the difference between life and death. 爬山时，一个很小的错误都有可能意味着生死之别。 Only an expert would know the difference between the male and the female. 只有专家才能分辨这种动物的雌雄。 Our different attitudes to life reflect the differences in our backgrounds. 对生活的不同态度反映出自身背景的差异。 The difference lies in the way the fruit is prepared. 差别在于怎样料理这种水果。 The difference with this information service is that it's free. 这项信息服务的不同之处在于它是免费的。 The differences in size arise from the amount of sunshine each plant gets. 大小有差别是因为每棵植物所获得的光照量不同。 The questionnaire showed vast differences in what kind of product people want. 问卷反映出人们对产品的需求差别很大。 The study explores the differences between the way girls and boys talk. 这项研究探讨了女孩和男孩讲话方式的差异。 There are few important policy differences among the main parties. 主要政党的重要政策几乎没有差别。 There is a striking difference between eastern and western Europe. 东欧与西欧差别突出。 There is one key difference with the earlier version of the software. 该软件与它较早前的版本有一个关键的不同之处。 There's a big difference between reading about skiing and doing it yourself. 书本中的滑雪与自己亲身滑雪之间是有很大差别的。 There's all the difference in the world between choosing to do something and being forced to do it. 自愿去做一件事与被迫去做迥然相异。 There's not much difference between baseball and softball. 棒球与垒球差别不大。 We found no significant difference between the two groups. 我们发现两组之间并没有显着的差异。 We should be focusing on what we have in common rather than emphasizing our differences. 我们应该把注意力集中在我们之间的相同之处，而不是相异之处。 a crucial difference of emphasis 侧重点上的关键性差异
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective- big
- broad
- considerable
- …
- make
- mean
- emphasize
- …
- be
- lie
- arise (from something)
- …
- difference among
- difference between
- difference from
- …
- a… with a difference
- all the difference in the world
- a great deal of difference
- …
- [singular, uncountable]
the amount that something is greater or smaller than something else 差；差额 - difference in something
We measured the difference in temperature. 我们测量了温度的变化。 - difference between A and B
The difference between the two numbers gives you the profit. 这两个数字之间的差异给了你利润。 There's an age difference of six years between the boys (= one is six years older than the other). 这两个男孩的年龄相差六岁。 - difference in something between A and B
There is not much difference in price between the two brands. 两个品牌价格相差不大。 I'll lend you £500 and you'll have to find the difference (= the rest of the money that you need). 我借给你 500 英镑，其余的你自己解决。
Extra ExamplesHe didn't have enough money, but his aunt agreed to make up the difference. 他的钱不够，不过他姨妈答应为他补足差额。 He sold the car for more than he'd paid and pocketed the difference. 他以高于买价的价格将车卖掉，赚了差价。 I found very little difference in size. 我发现大小差别很小。 If you decide on the more expensive model, you can bring this one back and pay the difference. 如果你决定了更想要贵一点儿的那一款，你可以交回这个，补上差价就可以了。 The difference in price is not very significant. 价格差别不是很大。 What's the time difference between London and Tokyo? 伦敦与东京的时差是几个小时？ People disapproved of their marriage because of the age difference. 由于年龄差异，人们不赞成他们的婚姻。
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryverb + difference- pay
- make up
- …
- difference in something
- [countable]
a disagreement between people 意见分歧；不和 We have our differences, but she's still my sister. 我们之间虽然不和，但她仍旧是我的妹妹。 Why don't you settle your differences and be friends again? 你们为什么不消除隔阂，言归于好呢？ There was a difference of opinion over who had won. 在谁获胜的问题上发生了争执。
Extra ExamplesTopics Opinion and argumentc1We're going to get the two sides together to see if they can't settle their differences. 我们打算把双方召集到一起看他们是否能解决分歧。 They have had some minor differences, but in general they get on well together. 他们之间存在一些小分歧，不过总的来说相处得还不错。 Differences may arise when the young people do not have the same expectations as their parents. 年轻人的期望与父母不同时就会出现分歧。 She and Luke had a difference of opinion over how much money they should spend. 她与卢克在该花多少钱的问题上发生了争执。 Although the talks were generally successful, differences remain between the groups. 尽管会谈整体上是成功的，双方仍存在分歧。 Like any married couple, we have our differences. 和其他所有的夫妇一样，我们之间也存在分歧。 There were some differences as to how to deal with the crisis. 关于如何应对这场危机存在不同的看法。 These talks aim to resolve the outstanding differences between the two sides. 这些会谈的目的是消除双方尚存的分歧。
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective- irreconcilable
- major
- serious
- …
- have
- make up
- patch up
- …
- arise
- emerge
- occur
- …
- difference as to
- difference over
- a difference of opinion
- have your differences
Word OriginMiddle English: via Old French from Latin differentia ‘difference’, from different- ‘carrying away’, from the verb differre, from dis- ‘from, away’ + ferre ‘bring, carry’.
Idioms
bury the hatchet | bury your differences
to stop not being friendly and become friends again 消除隔阂（重归于好） After not speaking to each other for years, the two brothers decided to bury the hatchet. 在多年不和对方说话后，兄弟俩决定言归于好。
a distinction without a difference
a point that somebody wants to suggest is a difference when in fact it is not different at all 差不多一样 His government did not brand them terrorists, but rather ‘an entity that supports terrorism’. That may prove to be a distinction without a difference. 他的政府没有称他们为恐怖分子，而是称他们为“支持恐怖主义的实体”。这可能被证明是一个没有区别的区别。
make all the difference (to somebody/something)
make a, no, some, etc. difference (to somebody/to something/in something)
to have an effect/no effect on somebody/something 有（或没有、有些等）作用，关系，影响 The rain didn't make much difference to the game. 这场雨对比赛没多大影响。 Your age shouldn't make any difference to whether you get the job or not. 你能否得到这工作应该与你的年龄无关。 Changing schools made a big difference to my life. 转学对我的一生有着重大影响。 What difference will it make if he knows or not? 他知不知道有什么关系吗？ I don't think it makes a lot of difference what colour it is (= it is not important). 我认为颜色无关紧要。 ‘Shall we go on Friday or Saturday?’ ‘It makes no difference (to me).’ “我们星期五还是星期六去？” “（我）无所谓。”
Extra ExamplesThe extra money will make a lot of difference to us. 这笔额外的钱对于我们来说会起很大的作用。 What difference does it make if he doesn't have a car? 如果他没有汽车，又会有什么不同呢？ A small number of additional jobs can make a crucial difference to economic conditions. 少量的外快工作对经济状况的改变能起到关键作用。 The new central heating has made an enormous difference to the house. 新的中央供暖系统使这所房子大不一样。
same difference
sink your differences
to agree to forget about your disagreements 摒弃分歧；搁置歧见 We need to sink our differences and present a united opposition to the plan. 我们需要消除分歧，团结一致反对这项计划。
split the difference
(when discussing a price, etc.) to agree on an amount that is at an equal distance between the two amounts that have been suggested （讲价等）各让一步，折中 I offered €200 but he wanted €300. In the end, we split the difference and I paid him €250. 我出价 200 欧元，他想要 300 欧元。最后，双方各让一步，我付了他 250 欧元。 - (figurative)
I wanted to leave early and Ian wanted to leave late, so we split the difference and left at noon. 我想早些离开，可伊恩想晚一点，于是我们折衷了一下中午走的。
with a difference
a/the world of difference