{
    "term": "asylum",
    "partOfSpeech": "noun",
    "ox5000": true,
    "cefr": "c1",
    "definitions": [
        {
            "senseNumber": 1,
            "definition": "protection that a government gives to people who have left their own country, usually because they were in danger for political reasons",
            "labels": "formal",
            "cefr": "c1",
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "**to seek/apply for/be granted asylum**"
                },
                {
                    "text": "There was a nationwide debate on whether the asylum laws should be changed."
                },
                {
                    "text": "She fled the country, and is now seeking asylum in Sweden."
                },
                {
                    "text": "They applied for asylum after being tortured in their own country."
                },
                {
                    "text": "She was granted political asylum by Canada in 2013."
                },
                {
                    "text": "Over 400 people have been refused asylum."
                },
                {
                    "text": "Those fleeing from the war have the right to asylum."
                }
            ],
            "topics": ["Social issues"],
            "collocations": {
                "adjective": ["political", "temporary"],
                "verb + asylum": ["apply for", "claim", "request"],
                "asylum + noun": ["seeker", "application", "case"],
                "phrases": [
                    "an application for asylum",
                    "the right of asylum",
                    "the right to asylum"
                ]
            }
        },
        {
            "senseNumber": 2,
            "definition": "a hospital where people who were mentally ill could be cared for, often for a long time",
            "labels": "(old use)",
            "examples": [],
            "collocations": {
                "adjective": ["insane", "lunatic", "mental"],
                "preposition": ["in an/​the asylum"]
            }
        }
    ],
    "pronunciations": {
        "uk": [
            {
                "pronunciation": "/əˈsaɪləm/",
                "audio": "as/asylum/asylum__gb_1.mp3"
            }
        ],
        "us": [
            {
                "pronunciation": "/əˈsaɪləm/",
                "audio": "as/asylum/asylum__us_1.mp3"
            }
        ]
    },
    "wordOrigin": "late Middle English (in the sense ‘place of refuge’, especially for criminals): via Latin from Greek asulon ‘refuge’, from asulos ‘inviolable’, from a- ‘without’ + sulon ‘right of seizure’. Current senses date from the 18th cent."
}