{
    "term": "firm",
    "partOfSpeech": "noun",
    "ox3000": true,
    "cefr": "b2",
    "definitions": [
        {
            "senseNumber": null,
            "definition": "a business or company",
            "sensetop": "a firm of something",
            "labels": "(North American English)(British English)",
            "ox3000": true,
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "a **law/consulting/research firm**"
                },
                {
                    "text": "an **accounting/investment firm**"
                },
                {
                    "text": "They **hired** an engineering **firm** to produce a model of their device."
                },
                {
                    "text": "a firm of solicitors/accountants/architects",
                    "contextForm": "a firm of something"
                },
                {
                    "text": "She works for a firm of management consultants based in London."
                },
                {
                    "text": "By the age of only 28 she was a partner in a top law firm."
                },
                {
                    "text": "the city's oldest and most prestigious law firm"
                },
                {
                    "text": "I'm a designer at a London-based publishing firm."
                },
                {
                    "text": "The group hired a large PR and lobbying firm."
                },
                {
                    "text": "They are an investment-banking firm specializing in mergers and acquisitions."
                },
                {
                    "text": "She set up her own software firm."
                },
                {
                    "text": "The technology is now available for use by government agencies and private firms."
                },
                {
                    "text": "He founded a firm called Artek in 1935 to manufacture and distribute his designs."
                },
                {
                    "text": "He owns a local construction firm."
                },
                {
                    "text": "Wendy has joined the firm as director of marketing."
                },
                {
                    "text": "Local firms are finding it difficult to compete in the international market."
                },
                {
                    "text": "She hired a firm of private detectives to follow him."
                },
                {
                    "text": "He is the senior partner of a firm of solicitors."
                },
                {
                    "text": "She heads a firm of independent financial advisers."
                },
                {
                    "text": "The firm employs 85 000 people around the world."
                },
                {
                    "text": "The firm was taken over by a multinational consultancy."
                },
                {
                    "text": "The well-established firm closed down with the loss of 600 jobs."
                },
                {
                    "text": "They are likely to merge with a bigger firm."
                },
                {
                    "text": "US firms operating in China"
                },
                {
                    "text": "firms operating in domestic markets"
                },
                {
                    "text": "a firm specializing in high-tech products"
                },
                {
                    "text": "At 16 he went to work for the family firm."
                }
            ],
            "topics": ["Business"],
            "collocations": {
                "adjective": ["big", "large", "major"],
                "verb + firm": ["establish", "found", "launch"],
                "firm + verb": ["be based in something", "expand", "grow"],
                "preposition": ["in a/​the firm", "within a/​the firm"],
                "phrases": [
                    "a client of a firm",
                    "a firm of accountants, consultants, solicitors, etc.",
                    "a partner in a firm"
                ]
            }
        }
    ],
    "pronunciations": {
        "uk": [
            {
                "pronunciation": "/fɜːm/",
                "audio": "fi/firm/firm__gb_2.mp3"
            }
        ],
        "us": [
            {
                "pronunciation": "/fɜːrm/",
                "audio": "fi/firm/firm__us_1.mp3"
            }
        ]
    },
    "wordOrigin": "noun late 16th cent.: from Spanish and Italian firma, from medieval Latin, from Latin firmare ‘fix, settle’ (in late Latin ‘confirm by signature’), from firmus ‘firm’; compare with farm. The word originally denoted one's autograph or signature; later (mid 18th cent.) the name under which the business of a firm was transacted, hence the firm itself (late 18th cent.)."
}