{
    "term": "exploration",
    "partOfSpeech": "noun",
    "ox3000": true,
    "cefr": "b2",
    "definitions": [
        {
            "senseNumber": 1,
            "definition": "the act of travelling through a place in order to find out about it or look for something in it",
            "cefr": "b2",
            "ox3000": true,
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "Budgets for **space exploration** have been cut back."
                },
                {
                    "text": "**oil exploration** *(= searching for oil in the ground)*"
                },
                {
                    "text": "Lewis and Clark's exploration of the vast uncharted area of the north-west"
                },
                {
                    "text": "the exploration of space"
                },
                {
                    "text": "Exploration activity slowed during the 1970s."
                },
                {
                    "text": "Extensive exploration was carried out using the latest drilling technology."
                },
                {
                    "text": "speculative exploration for oil"
                },
                {
                    "text": "Mineral exploration is continuing throughout the area."
                },
                {
                    "text": "The ship is designed for deep space exploration."
                },
                {
                    "text": "Interest developed in the scientific exploration of the sea."
                },
                {
                    "text": "Much of a child's play is concerned with the exploration of his/​her environment."
                },
                {
                    "text": "This was the time of Humboldt's explorations in South America."
                },
                {
                    "text": "Cook charted the coast of New Zealand on his first voyage of exploration."
                }
            ],
            "collocations": {
                "adjective": ["energy", "gas", "mineral"],
                "verb + exploration": ["carry out", "begin", "continue"],
                "exploration + verb": ["take place"],
                "exploration + noun": ["activity", "programme/​program", "company"],
                "preposition": ["exploration for"]
            }
        },
        {
            "senseNumber": 2,
            "definition": "an examination of something in order to find out about it",
            "cefr": "b2",
            "ox3000": true,
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "These findings merit further exploration."
                },
                {
                    "text": "the book’s explorations of the human mind"
                },
                {
                    "text": "My ideas needed more careful exploration."
                },
                {
                    "text": "creative exploration of music as a medium in education"
                },
                {
                    "text": "her personal exploration of spirituality"
                }
            ],
            "collocations": {
                "adjective": ["brief", "extensive", "deep"],
                "verb + exploration": ["need", "require", "begin"]
            }
        }
    ],
    "pronunciations": {
        "uk": [
            {
                "pronunciation": "/ˌekspləˈreɪʃn/",
                "audio": "ex/exploration/exploration__gb_1.mp3"
            }
        ],
        "us": [
            {
                "pronunciation": "/ˌekspləˈreɪʃn/",
                "audio": "ex/exploration/exploration__us_1.mp3"
            }
        ]
    },
    "wordOrigin": "mid 16th cent. (denoting an investigation): from French, or from Latin exploratio(n-), from the verb explorare ‘search out’, from ex- ‘out’ + plorare ‘utter a cry’. The current sense dates from the early 19th cent."
}