word-vault
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A lightweight JavaScript package for English word definitions and collections.
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{
"term": "distinguish",
"partOfSpeech": "verb",
"ox5000": true,
"cefr": "b2",
"verbForms": {
"presentSimple": {
"iYouWeThey": "distinguish",
"heSheIt": "distinguishes"
},
"pastSimple": "distinguished",
"pastParticiple": "distinguished",
"ingForm": "distinguishing"
},
"definitions": [
{
"senseNumber": 1,
"definition": "to recognize the difference between two people or things",
"sensetop": "distinguish between A and Bdistinguish A from Bdistinguish A and B",
"cefr": "b2",
"examples": [
{
"text": "At what age are children able to distinguish between right and wrong?",
"contextForm": "distinguish between A and B"
},
{
"text": "English law clearly distinguishes between murder and manslaughter."
},
{
"text": "It was hard to distinguish one twin from the other.",
"contextForm": "distinguish A from B"
},
{
"text": "Sometimes reality and fantasy are hard to distinguish.",
"contextForm": "distinguish A and B"
},
{
"text": "We can distinguish five meanings of the word ‘mad’."
},
{
"text": "It is often difficult to distinguish clearly between fact and fiction in this book."
},
{
"text": "She could not distinguish one child from another."
},
{
"text": "Small children have difficulty distinguishing fiction from reality."
},
{
"text": "Troops cannot always reliably distinguish between combatants and civilians."
},
{
"text": "Retailers should distinguish clearly between full-price and sale items."
}
],
"synonyms": "differentiate",
"collocations": {
"adverb": ["clearly", "sharply", "carefully"],
"verb + distinguish": ["be able to", "can", "could"],
"preposition": ["between", "from"],
"phrases": [
"have difficulty distinguishing",
"have difficulty in distinguishing",
"have trouble distinguishing"
]
}
},
{
"senseNumber": 2,
"definition": "to be a characteristic that makes two people, animals or things different",
"sensetop": "distinguish A (from B)",
"cefr": "b2",
"examples": [
{
"text": "What was it that distinguished her from her classmates?"
},
{
"text": "The male bird is distinguished from the female by its red beak."
},
{
"text": "The adult bird can be readily distinguished by its orange bill."
},
{
"text": "Does your cat have any distinguishing marks?"
},
{
"text": "The power of speech distinguishes human beings from animals."
}
],
"collocations": {
"adverb": ["clearly", "sharply", "carefully"],
"verb + distinguish": ["be able to", "can", "could"],
"preposition": ["between", "from"],
"phrases": [
"have difficulty distinguishing",
"have difficulty in distinguishing",
"have trouble distinguishing"
]
}
},
{
"senseNumber": 3,
"definition": "to be able to see or hear something",
"sensetop": "distinguish something",
"cefr": "c1",
"examples": [
{
"text": "I could not distinguish her words, but she sounded agitated."
},
{
"text": "She could not distinguish the make and colour of the car in the fading light."
}
],
"synonyms": "make out"
},
{
"senseNumber": 4,
"definition": "to do something so well that people notice and admire you",
"sensetop": "distinguish yourself (as something)",
"cefr": "c1",
"examples": [
{
"text": "She has already distinguished herself as an athlete."
}
],
"topics": ["Success"]
}
],
"pronunciations": {
"uk": [
{
"pronunciation": "/dɪˈstɪŋɡwɪʃ/",
"audio": "di/distinguish/distinguish__gb_1.mp3"
},
{
"pronunciation": "/dɪˈstɪŋɡwɪʃɪz/",
"audio": "di/distinguish/distinguishes__gb_1.mp3"
},
{
"pronunciation": "/dɪˈstɪŋɡwɪʃt/",
"audio": "di/distinguish/distinguished__gb_1.mp3"
},
{
"pronunciation": "/dɪˈstɪŋɡwɪʃɪŋ/",
"audio": "di/distinguish/distinguishing__gb_1.mp3"
}
],
"us": [
{
"pronunciation": "/dɪˈstɪŋɡwɪʃ/",
"audio": "di/distinguish/distinguish__us_1.mp3"
},
{
"pronunciation": "/dɪˈstɪŋɡwɪʃɪz/",
"audio": "di/distinguish/distinguishes__us_1.mp3"
},
{
"pronunciation": "/dɪˈstɪŋɡwɪʃt/",
"audio": "di/distinguish/distinguished__us_1.mp3"
},
{
"pronunciation": "/dɪˈstɪŋɡwɪʃɪŋ/",
"audio": "di/distinguish/distinguishing__us_1.mp3"
}
]
},
"wordOrigin": "late 16th cent.: formed irregularly from French distinguer or Latin distinguere, from dis- ‘apart’ + stinguere ‘put out’ (from a base meaning ‘prick’)."
}