ADJ

clear, dramatic, perfect, potent, powerful, supreme, ultimate
The Berlin wall was the supreme symbol of the Cold War
universal
The dove is a universal symbol of peace
outward, physical, visual
The company car is an outward symbol of the employee's status
ancient, traditional
national
cultural, military, political
divine, religious, sacred
Christian, Hindu, etc.
fertility, phallic, sexual, virility
The villagers took fertility symbols into the fields to ensure a good harvest
sex
(= a person famous for being attractive) He is not most people's idea of a sex symbol
status
A stressful job can actually be a status symbol

VERB + SYMBOL

adopt sth as, regard sth as, see sth as, use sth as
Eggs are seen as the symbol of new life

ADJ

identifying
All GM products carry an identifying symbol
abstract, geometric, geometrical
graphic, written
chemical, Chinese, linguistic, mathematical, musical, phonemic, phonetic, punctuation
A list of phonetic symbols is given in the front of the dictionary

VERB + SYMBOL

bear, be marked with, have
The coin bears a Jewish symbol. The bottle had a skull and crossbones symbol on it
display, show, use
Hotels that show this symbol offer activities for children
look out for, see
Always look out for the special ABTA symbol at your travel agent's. You can use your tokens wherever you see this symbol
decipher, interpret, understand

SYMBOL + VERB

denote sth, indicate sth, mean sth, represent sth
What does this little symbol mean?

PREP

in ~s
a message written in symbols
~ for
O is the chemical symbol for oxygen