word-vault
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A lightweight JavaScript package for English word definitions and collections.
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{
"term": "wit",
"partOfSpeech": "noun",
"ox5000": true,
"cefr": "c1",
"definitions": [
{
"senseNumber": 1,
"definition": "the ability to say or write things that are both clever and humorous",
"cefr": "c1",
"examples": [
{
"text": "to have a **quick/sharp/dry/ready wit**"
},
{
"text": "a woman of wit and intelligence"
},
{
"text": "a book full of the **wit and wisdom** of his 30 years in politics"
},
{
"text": "He had a dry wit."
},
{
"text": "He has plenty of wit and imagination."
},
{
"text": "He was blessed with great charm and a quick wit."
},
{
"text": "I wanted to bowl him over with my sparkling wit."
},
{
"text": "She had to use all her native wit (= the wit she was born with) to convince the police."
}
],
"topics": ["Personal qualities"],
"collocations": {
"adjective": ["great", "quick", "ready"],
"verb + wit": ["have"],
"phrases": ["wit and wisdom"]
}
},
{
"senseNumber": 2,
"definition": "a person who has the ability to say or write things that are both clever and humorous",
"cefr": "c2",
"examples": [
{
"text": "a well-known wit and raconteur"
}
],
"topics": ["Personal qualities"]
},
{
"senseNumber": 3,
"definition": "your ability to think quickly and clearly and to make good decisions",
"cefr": "c1",
"examples": [
{
"text": "He needed all his wits to find his way out."
},
{
"text": "The game was a long **battle of wits**."
},
{
"text": "Kate paused and **gathered her wits**."
},
{
"text": "a chance to **pit your wits against** *(= compete with, using your intelligence)* our quiz champion"
},
{
"text": "She couldn't seem to gather her wits and tell us what had happened."
},
{
"text": "The game allows you to match wits with a computer criminal."
},
{
"text": "The strike developed into a battle of wits between management and workers."
},
{
"text": "Living alone in the country had dulled his wits."
}
],
"collocations": {
"verb + wits": ["use", "have", "gather"],
"phrases": [
"a battle of wits",
"have your wits about you",
"keep your wits about you"
]
}
},
{
"senseNumber": 4,
"definition": "having the type of intelligence mentioned",
"examples": [
{
"text": "a quick-witted group of students"
}
]
},
{
"senseNumber": 5,
"definition": "the intelligence or good sense to know what is the right thing to do",
"sensetop": "wit to do something",
"examples": [
{
"text": "At least you had the wit to ask for help."
},
{
"text": "It should not be **beyond the wit of man** to resolve this dispute."
},
{
"text": "I hope he has the wit to take the key with him."
},
{
"text": "I hope you had the wits to apologize."
},
{
"text": "You'd think they'd have the wit to ask for help."
},
{
"text": "It shouldn't be beyond the wit of man to solve this issue."
}
],
"collocations": {
"adjective": ["native"],
"verb + wit": ["have", "use"],
"phrases": ["beyond the wit of man"]
}
},
{
"senseNumber": null,
"definition": "to be so worried by a problem that you do not know what to do next",
"labels": "(informal)",
"examples": [
{
"text": "She was at her wits’ end wondering how she’d manage it all in the time."
},
{
"text": "I'm at my wits' end trying to cope with his moods."
}
],
"topics": ["Feelings"]
},
{
"senseNumber": null,
"definition": "to be very frightened; to frighten somebody very much",
"examples": [
{
"text": "I was scared out of my wits!"
},
{
"text": "The latest news has scared the wits out of investors."
}
]
},
{
"senseNumber": null,
"definition": "to be aware of what is happening around you and ready to think and act quickly",
"examples": [
{
"text": "They do tough interviews so you'll need to have your wits about you."
}
]
},
{
"senseNumber": null,
"definition": "to earn money by clever or sometimes dishonest means",
"examples": []
},
{
"senseNumber": null,
"definition": "you use to wit when you are about to be more exact about something that you have just referred to",
"labels": "(old-fashioned, formal)",
"examples": [
{
"text": "Pilot error, to wit failure to follow procedures, was the cause of the accident."
}
]
}
],
"pronunciations": {
"uk": [
{
"pronunciation": "/wɪt/",
"audio": "wi/wit/wit__gb_1.mp3"
}
],
"us": [
{
"pronunciation": "/wɪt/",
"audio": "wi/wit/wit__us_1.mp3"
}
]
},
"wordOrigin": "Old English wit(t), gewit(t), denoting the mind as the seat of consciousness, of Germanic origin; related to Dutch weet and German Witz, also to wit in the archaic sense ‘have knowledge’."
}