interest (redirected from in the interests)

*vested interest (in something)

Fig. a personal or biased interest, often financial, in something. (*Typically: have ~; give someone ~.) Margaret has a vested interest in wanting her father to sell the family firm. She has shares in it and would make a large profit. Bob has a vested interest in keeping the village traffic-free. He has a summer home there.

draw interest 

1. to appear interesting and get (someone's) attention. (Note the variation in the examples.) This kind of event isn't likely to draw a lot of interest. What kind of show will draw public interest?

2. [for money] to earn interest while on deposit. Put your money in the bank so it will draw interest. The cash value of some insurance policies also draws interest.

See also: draw

have someone's best interest(s) at heart

to make decisions based on someone's best interests. I know she was only doing what would benefit her, but she said she had my best interests at heart.

See also: best, have, heart

have a keen interest in something

to have a strong interest in something; to be very interested in something. Tom had always had a keen interest in music, so he started a band. The children have a keen interest in having apet, so I bought them a cat.

See also: have, keen

in one's (own) (best) interest(s)

to one's advantage; as a benefit to oneself. It is not in your own interests to share your ideas with Jack. He will say that they are his. Jane thought it was in the best interest of her friend to tell his mother about his illness.

in the interest of someone or something

as an advantage or benefit to someone or something; in order to advance or improve someone or something. In the interest of health, people are asked not to smoke. The police imprisoned the suspects in the interest of the safety of the public.

in the interest of saving time

in order to hurry things along; in order to save time. Mary: In the interest of saving time, I'd like to save questions for the end of my talk. Bill: But I have an important question now! "In the interest of saving time," said Jane, "I'll give you the first three answers."

See also: saving, time

interest someone in someone or something

to arouse the interest of someone in someone or something. Yes, lean recommend someone for you to hire. Could I interest you in Tom? He's one of our best workers. Can I interest you in checking out a book from the library?

interest someone in something

to cause someone to wish to purchase something. Could I interest you in something with a little more style to it? Can I interest you in some additional insurance on your life?

of interest (to someone)

interesting to someone. These archived files are no longer of any interest. This is of little interest to me.

pique someone's curiosity and pique someone's interest

to arouse interest; to arouse curiosity. The advertisement piqued my curiosity about the product. The professor tried to pique the students' interest in French literature.

See also: curiosity, pique

take an interest in someone or something

to become concerned or interested in someone or something. Do you take an interest in your children? You should take an interest in everything your child does.

See also: take