fare

fare — noun

1. The amount of money a passenger must pay to travel on a bus, train, plane, or ta

1.nounB1
Definition

The amount of money a passenger must pay to travel on a bus, train, plane, or taxi.

Example

The bus fare in Tokyo has gone up to thirty dollars for a long trip.

collocation: bus fare

Vikram checked the train fare before deciding to drive instead.

collocation: train fare

Common collocations
  • bus fare
  • train fare
  • taxi fare
  • air fare
  • full fare
  • half fare
  • return fare
  • single fare
  • adult fare
  • child fare
Synonyms
  • price

    more general; fare is used specifically for transport

  • charge

    broader — can apply to any service or fee

  • ticket price

    refers to the cost of a ticket, often for a single journey

Grammar Patterns

the + fare

bus fare / train fare / air fare

Common Mistakes

The fare of the train is expensive.
The train fare is expensive.
'Fare' typically combines directly with the vehicle type (bus fare, train fare) rather than using 'of'.

2. A person who pays a taxi driver to be taken to a destination.

2.nounB2
Definition

A person who pays a taxi driver to be taken to a destination.

Example

The taxi driver picked up his first fare of the night outside the station.

collocation: pick up a fare

After a busy evening, the driver counted only three fares in two hours.

Common collocations
  • pick up a fare
  • drop off a fare
  • take a fare
  • first fare
  • last fare
  • paying fare
Synonyms
  • passenger

    the everyday word for anyone riding in any vehicle

  • customer

    focuses on the payment aspect; more general

  • rider

    common in American English for bus or taxi users

Grammar Patterns

pick up a fare

drop off a fare

Usage Note

This sense is used mainly by people who work in the transport industry, especially taxi drivers. In everyday conversation, passenger is the more common word.

Common Mistakes

The fare got out of the bus.
The fare got out of the taxi.
This sense of 'fare' refers specifically to taxi passengers, not bus or train passengers.

3. The sort of dishes and meals offered in a dining establishment such as a restaur

3.nounB2
Definition

The sort of dishes and meals offered in a dining establishment such as a restaurant or café.

Example

The little restaurant serves traditional Italian fare at fair prices.

collocation: traditional fare

The stadium offers standard fare like hot dogs and burgers.

collocation: standard fare

Common collocations
  • traditional fare
  • standard fare
  • simple fare
  • home-style fare
  • international fare
  • local fare
  • vegetarian fare
Synonyms
  • cuisine

    more formal; refers to a style or tradition of cooking

  • menu

    refers to the list of dishes, not the food itself

  • food

    the simplest, most general term

Grammar Patterns

adjective + fare

traditional fare / standard fare / simple fare

4. The type of entertainment, writing, or other material made available for the pub

4.nounC1
Definition

The type of entertainment, writing, or other material made available for the public to enjoy.

Example

The film festival offered a mix of foreign and local fare.

Critics dismissed the summer show as standard Hollywood fare.

collocation: standard Hollywood fare

Common collocations
  • Hollywood fare
  • comedy fare
  • standard fare
  • light fare
  • family fare
  • TV fare
  • movie fare
  • reading fare
Synonyms
  • offering

    broader; can refer to products, services, or content

  • material

    neutral; refers to published or produced content

  • content

    modern term for digital or media output

Grammar Patterns

adjective + fare

Hollywood fare / comedy fare / standard fare

Usage Note

This sense is common in journalism and critical reviews rather than in everyday conversation.

fare — verb

Word family

  • farewell
    nounB2

Synonym discussion

Sense: verb/1

Fare, manage, get along, perform, and cope all describe how someone or something deals with a situation, but they differ in emphasis and register. Fare is the most neutral and requires an adverb to complete its meaning: 'how did you fare?' Manage suggests overcoming obstacles with some skill and often takes a direct object ('she managed the crisis'). Get along is more informal and implies day-to-day survival or progress ('he gets along on very little money'). Perform focuses on the quality of actions in a task or test ('the students performed well on the exam'). Cope emphasises handling pressure or difficulty ('she coped with the loss of her job'). In a sentence: 'The team fared well in the tournament' describes their overall outcome, while 'The team performed well' highlights the quality of their play.

fare ↗manage ↗get alongperform ↗cope ↗

Common collocations

Adverbs

Prepositions

Etymology

Proto-Indo-EuropeanProto-GermanicOld EnglishEnglish

Fare comes from the Old English verb faran, meaning 'to go on a journey'. This ancient root, shared by German fahren (to drive) and Dutch varen (to sail), traces back to a Proto-Indo-European word meaning 'to go, to cross'. The noun sense of 'payment for travel' grew naturally from the idea of the cost of a journey. The food-related meaning developed because provisions were what travellers needed for their journey. The modern verb sense of 'getting along in a situation' metaphorically extends the original journey idea into life's experiences.