{
    "term": "comprehension",
    "partOfSpeech": "noun",
    "definitions": [
        {
            "senseNumber": 1,
            "definition": "the ability to understand",
            "sensetop": "beyond comprehension",
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "speech and comprehension"
                },
                {
                    "text": "His behaviour was completely beyond comprehension *(= impossible to understand)*.",
                    "contextForm": "beyond comprehension"
                },
                {
                    "text": "She had no comprehension of what was involved."
                },
                {
                    "text": "He showed a total lack of comprehension."
                },
                {
                    "text": "She has no comprehension of the seriousness of the situation."
                },
                {
                    "text": "The level of violence used defies comprehension."
                },
                {
                    "text": "Why he can't do it himself is beyond my comprehension."
                },
                {
                    "text": "He looked at her with a total lack of comprehension."
                },
                {
                    "text": "The task requires a good comprehension of complex instructions."
                },
                {
                    "text": "There are exercises for checking comprehension."
                }
            ],
            "collocations": {
                "adjective": ["human"],
                "verb + comprehension": ["have", "defy", "check"],
                "comprehension + noun": ["skills"],
                "preposition": [
                    "beyond (somebody’s) comprehension",
                    "without comprehension"
                ],
                "phrases": ["a lack of comprehension"]
            }
        },
        {
            "senseNumber": 2,
            "definition": "an exercise that trains students to understand a language",
            "cefr": "a2",
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "We did a listening comprehension."
                },
                {
                    "text": "a reading comprehension"
                }
            ],
            "topics": ["Education"],
            "collocations": {
                "adjective": ["listening", "reading"],
                "verb + comprehension": ["do"],
                "comprehension + noun": ["test", "question", "skills"]
            }
        }
    ],
    "pronunciations": {
        "uk": [
            {
                "pronunciation": "/ˌkɒmprɪˈhenʃn/",
                "audio": "co/comprehension/comprehension__gb_1.mp3"
            }
        ],
        "us": [
            {
                "pronunciation": "/ˌkɑːmprɪˈhenʃn/",
                "audio": "co/comprehension/comprehension__us_1.mp3"
            }
        ]
    },
    "wordOrigin": "late Middle English: from French compréhension or Latin comprehensio(n-), from the verb comprehendere ‘seize, comprise’, from com- ‘together’ + prehendere ‘grasp’."
}