{
    "term": "afford",
    "partOfSpeech": "verb",
    "ox3000": true,
    "cefr": "b1",
    "verbForms": {
        "presentSimple": {
            "iYouWeThey": "afford",
            "heSheIt": "affords"
        },
        "pastSimple": "afforded",
        "pastParticiple": "afforded",
        "ingForm": "affording"
    },
    "definitions": [
        {
            "senseNumber": 1,
            "definition": "to have enough money to be able to buy or do something",
            "sensetop": "afford somethingafford to do somethingafford something to do something",
            "cefr": "b1",
            "ox3000": true,
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "Can we afford a new car?",
                    "contextForm": "afford something"
                },
                {
                    "text": "None of them could afford £50 for a ticket."
                },
                {
                    "text": "I’d give up work if I could afford it."
                },
                {
                    "text": "We can't afford to go abroad this summer.",
                    "contextForm": "afford to do something"
                },
                {
                    "text": "She never took a taxi, even though she could afford to."
                },
                {
                    "text": "She can well **afford to pay** for herself."
                },
                {
                    "text": "They couldn't **afford to buy** a house there."
                },
                {
                    "text": "We can't afford to have children."
                },
                {
                    "text": "He couldn't afford the money to go on the trip.",
                    "contextForm": "afford something to do something"
                },
                {
                    "text": "I couldn't possibly afford to eat in that restaurant."
                },
                {
                    "text": "We can afford to go to Miami this year."
                }
            ],
            "topics": ["Shopping"],
            "collocations": {
                "adverb": ["easily", "well", "barely"],
                "verb + afford": ["be able to", "can", "be unable to"]
            }
        },
        {
            "senseNumber": 2,
            "definition": "if you say that you can’t afford to do something, you mean that you should not do it because it will cause problems for you if you do",
            "sensetop": "afford to do somethingafford something",
            "labels": "(formal)",
            "cefr": "b2",
            "ox3000": true,
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "We cannot afford to ignore this warning.",
                    "contextForm": "afford to do something"
                },
                {
                    "text": "They could **ill afford** to lose any more staff."
                },
                {
                    "text": "The people who suffer most are those who can least **afford to lose**."
                },
                {
                    "text": "We simply can't afford to take any risks."
                },
                {
                    "text": "She felt she couldn't afford any more time off work.",
                    "contextForm": "afford something"
                },
                {
                    "text": "We cannot afford any more delays."
                }
            ]
        },
        {
            "senseNumber": 3,
            "definition": "to provide somebody with something",
            "sensetop": "afford somethingafford somebody something",
            "labels": "(formal)",
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "The tree affords some shelter from the sun.",
                    "contextForm": "afford something"
                },
                {
                    "text": "The legislation aims to **afford protection** to employees."
                },
                {
                    "text": "Being a college professor **affords you the opportunity** simply to write and do research.",
                    "contextForm": "afford somebody something"
                },
                {
                    "text": "The programme affords young people the chance to gain work experience."
                }
            ]
        }
    ],
    "pronunciations": {
        "uk": [
            {
                "pronunciation": "/əˈfɔːd/",
                "audio": "af/afford/afford__gb_1.mp3"
            },
            {
                "pronunciation": "/əˈfɔːdz/",
                "audio": "af/afford/affords__gb_1.mp3"
            },
            {
                "pronunciation": "/əˈfɔːdɪd/",
                "audio": "af/afford/afforded__gb_1.mp3"
            },
            {
                "pronunciation": "/əˈfɔːdɪŋ/",
                "audio": "af/afford/affording__gb_1.mp3"
            }
        ],
        "us": [
            {
                "pronunciation": "/əˈfɔːrd/",
                "audio": "af/afford/afford__us_1.mp3"
            },
            {
                "pronunciation": "/əˈfɔːrdz/",
                "audio": "af/afford/affords__us_1.mp3"
            },
            {
                "pronunciation": "/əˈfɔːrdɪd/",
                "audio": "af/afford/afforded__us_1.mp3"
            },
            {
                "pronunciation": "/əˈfɔːrdɪŋ/",
                "audio": "af/afford/affording__us_1.mp3"
            }
        ]
    },
    "wordOrigin": "late Old English geforthian, from ge- (prefix implying completeness) + forthian ‘to further’, from forth. The original sense was ‘promote, perform, accomplish’, later ‘manage, be in a position to do’."
}