{
    "term": "department",
    "partOfSpeech": "noun",
    "ox3000": true,
    "cefr": "a2",
    "definitions": [
        {
            "senseNumber": null,
            "definition": "a section of a large organization such as a government, business, university, etc.",
            "sensetop": "department of somethingin a department",
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "the Department of Health",
                    "contextForm": "department of something"
                },
                {
                    "text": "He is a lecturer in the department of psychology at Trinity College, Dublin."
                },
                {
                    "text": "the Treasury Department"
                },
                {
                    "text": "a **government/university, etc. department**"
                },
                {
                    "text": "the **marketing/sales, etc. department**"
                },
                {
                    "text": "The children's department *(= in a large store)* sells a wide range of good quality clothes."
                },
                {
                    "text": "the English department"
                },
                {
                    "text": "She used to work in the IT department.",
                    "contextForm": "in a department"
                },
                {
                    "text": "He later served as head of the art history department."
                },
                {
                    "text": "A new member of staff has joined the department."
                },
                {
                    "text": "Complaints are dealt with in a different department."
                },
                {
                    "text": "Contact our sales department for more information."
                },
                {
                    "text": "Staff criticized the way the history department was run."
                },
                {
                    "text": "The Tokyo police department is clamping down on organized crime."
                },
                {
                    "text": "the Department for Transport"
                },
                {
                    "text": "to gain promotion within the department"
                },
                {
                    "text": "I work in the sales department."
                },
                {
                    "text": "Several professors from the history department will also speak at the event."
                },
                {
                    "text": "The Department of Trade and Industry refused to comment on the allegations."
                }
            ],
            "topics": [
                "Education",
                "Business",
                "Working life",
                "Politics",
                "Shopping"
            ]
        },
        {
            "senseNumber": null,
            "definition": "to be something that somebody is responsible for or knows a lot about",
            "labels": "(informal)",
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "Don't ask me about it—that's her department."
                }
            ]
        },
        {
            "senseNumber": null,
            "definition": "in a particular aspect or quality",
            "labels": "(informal)",
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "He doesn't have much going for him in the brains department, to be honest."
                },
                {
                    "text": "Movies lacking in the story department can still succeed."
                }
            ]
        }
    ],
    "pronunciations": {
        "uk": [
            {
                "pronunciation": "/dɪˈpɑːtmənt/",
                "audio": "de/department/department__gb_2.mp3"
            }
        ],
        "us": [
            {
                "pronunciation": "/dɪˈpɑːrtmənt/",
                "audio": "de/department/department__us_1.mp3"
            }
        ]
    },
    "wordOrigin": "late Middle English: from Old French departement, from departir, based on Latin dispertire ‘to divide’. The original sense was ‘division or distribution’, later ‘separation’, hence ‘a separate part’ (core sense, mid 18th cent.)."
}