{
    "term": "distinguish",
    "partOfSpeech": "verb",
    "ox5000": true,
    "cefr": "b2",
    "verbForms": {
        "presentSimple": {
            "iYouWeThey": "distinguish",
            "heSheIt": "distinguishes"
        },
        "pastSimple": "distinguished",
        "pastParticiple": "distinguished",
        "ingForm": "distinguishing"
    },
    "definitions": [
        {
            "senseNumber": 1,
            "definition": "to recognize the difference between two people or things",
            "sensetop": "distinguish between A and Bdistinguish A from Bdistinguish A and B",
            "cefr": "b2",
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "At what age are children able to distinguish between right and wrong?",
                    "contextForm": "distinguish between A and B"
                },
                {
                    "text": "English law clearly distinguishes between murder and manslaughter."
                },
                {
                    "text": "It was hard to distinguish one twin from the other.",
                    "contextForm": "distinguish A from B"
                },
                {
                    "text": "Sometimes reality and fantasy are hard to distinguish.",
                    "contextForm": "distinguish A and B"
                },
                {
                    "text": "We can distinguish five meanings of the word ‘mad’."
                },
                {
                    "text": "It is often difficult to distinguish clearly between fact and fiction in this book."
                },
                {
                    "text": "She could not distinguish one child from another."
                },
                {
                    "text": "Small children have difficulty distinguishing fiction from reality."
                },
                {
                    "text": "Troops cannot always reliably distinguish between combatants and civilians."
                },
                {
                    "text": "Retailers should distinguish clearly between full-price and sale items."
                }
            ],
            "synonyms": "differentiate",
            "collocations": {
                "adverb": ["clearly", "sharply", "carefully"],
                "verb + distinguish": ["be able to", "can", "could"],
                "preposition": ["between", "from"],
                "phrases": [
                    "have difficulty distinguishing",
                    "have difficulty in distinguishing",
                    "have trouble distinguishing"
                ]
            }
        },
        {
            "senseNumber": 2,
            "definition": "to be a characteristic that makes two people, animals or things different",
            "sensetop": "distinguish A (from B)",
            "cefr": "b2",
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "What was it that distinguished her from her classmates?"
                },
                {
                    "text": "The male bird is distinguished from the female by its red beak."
                },
                {
                    "text": "The adult bird can be readily distinguished by its orange bill."
                },
                {
                    "text": "Does your cat have any distinguishing marks?"
                },
                {
                    "text": "The power of speech distinguishes human beings from animals."
                }
            ],
            "collocations": {
                "adverb": ["clearly", "sharply", "carefully"],
                "verb + distinguish": ["be able to", "can", "could"],
                "preposition": ["between", "from"],
                "phrases": [
                    "have difficulty distinguishing",
                    "have difficulty in distinguishing",
                    "have trouble distinguishing"
                ]
            }
        },
        {
            "senseNumber": 3,
            "definition": "to be able to see or hear something",
            "sensetop": "distinguish something",
            "cefr": "c1",
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "I could not distinguish her words, but she sounded agitated."
                },
                {
                    "text": "She could not distinguish the make and colour of the car in the fading light."
                }
            ],
            "synonyms": "make out"
        },
        {
            "senseNumber": 4,
            "definition": "to do something so well that people notice and admire you",
            "sensetop": "distinguish yourself (as something)",
            "cefr": "c1",
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "She has already distinguished herself as an athlete."
                }
            ],
            "topics": ["Success"]
        }
    ],
    "pronunciations": {
        "uk": [
            {
                "pronunciation": "/dɪˈstɪŋɡwɪʃ/",
                "audio": "di/distinguish/distinguish__gb_1.mp3"
            },
            {
                "pronunciation": "/dɪˈstɪŋɡwɪʃɪz/",
                "audio": "di/distinguish/distinguishes__gb_1.mp3"
            },
            {
                "pronunciation": "/dɪˈstɪŋɡwɪʃt/",
                "audio": "di/distinguish/distinguished__gb_1.mp3"
            },
            {
                "pronunciation": "/dɪˈstɪŋɡwɪʃɪŋ/",
                "audio": "di/distinguish/distinguishing__gb_1.mp3"
            }
        ],
        "us": [
            {
                "pronunciation": "/dɪˈstɪŋɡwɪʃ/",
                "audio": "di/distinguish/distinguish__us_1.mp3"
            },
            {
                "pronunciation": "/dɪˈstɪŋɡwɪʃɪz/",
                "audio": "di/distinguish/distinguishes__us_1.mp3"
            },
            {
                "pronunciation": "/dɪˈstɪŋɡwɪʃt/",
                "audio": "di/distinguish/distinguished__us_1.mp3"
            },
            {
                "pronunciation": "/dɪˈstɪŋɡwɪʃɪŋ/",
                "audio": "di/distinguish/distinguishing__us_1.mp3"
            }
        ]
    },
    "wordOrigin": "late 16th cent.: formed irregularly from French distinguer or Latin distinguere, from dis- ‘apart’ + stinguere ‘put out’ (from a base meaning ‘prick’)."
}