{
    "term": "flag",
    "partOfSpeech": "noun",
    "ox3000": true,
    "cefr": "b1",
    "image": "data/images/ci/city.png",
    "definitions": [
        {
            "senseNumber": 1,
            "definition": "a piece of cloth with a special coloured design on it that may be the symbol of a particular country or organization, may be used to give a signal or may have a particular meaning. A flag can be attached to a pole (= a long thin straight piece of wood or metal) or held in the hand.",
            "cefr": "b1",
            "ox3000": true,
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "the Italian flag"
                },
                {
                    "text": "the flag of Italy"
                },
                {
                    "text": "The hotel **flies the** European Union **flag**."
                },
                {
                    "text": "The American **flag** was **flying**."
                },
                {
                    "text": "Hundreds of people cheered and **waved flags**."
                },
                {
                    "text": "All the **flags were at half mast** *(= in honour of a famous person who has died)*."
                },
                {
                    "text": "The black and white flag went down, and the race began."
                },
                {
                    "text": "The assistant referee had **raised his flag** for offside."
                },
                {
                    "text": "A large Brazilian flag fluttered above the podium."
                },
                {
                    "text": "His shot went closer to the corner flag than the goal."
                },
                {
                    "text": "France's **flag bearer** *(= person who carried the flag)* at the Paris Olympics"
                },
                {
                    "text": "A tattered flag hung from the roof of the burnt-out building."
                },
                {
                    "text": "The crowd all waved flags as the president came past."
                },
                {
                    "text": "The fact that it was so cheap should have been a warning flag for me."
                },
                {
                    "text": "a flag fluttering in the breeze"
                },
                {
                    "text": "a flag of truce"
                }
            ],
            "collocations": {
                "adjective": ["national", "battle", "burning"],
                "verb + flag": ["fly", "hang", "hang out"],
                "flag + verb": ["hang", "flap", "flutter"],
                "flag + noun": ["pole"],
                "preposition": ["under a/​the flag", "flag of"],
                "phrases": ["flag of convenience", "flag of surrender"]
            }
        },
        {
            "senseNumber": 2,
            "definition": "used to refer to a particular country or organization and its beliefs and values",
            "sensetop": "under a flagunder the flag of something",
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "to swear allegiance to the flag"
                },
                {
                    "text": "The team competed under the Olympic flag.",
                    "contextForm": "under a flag"
                },
                {
                    "text": "He was working under the flag of the United Nations.",
                    "contextForm": "under the flag of something"
                }
            ]
        },
        {
            "senseNumber": 3,
            "definition": "a flower that is a type of iris and that grows near water",
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "yellow flags"
                }
            ]
        },
        {
            "senseNumber": 4,
            "definition": "a large flat square piece of stone that is used for floors, paths, etc.",
            "examples": []
        },
        {
            "senseNumber": null,
            "definition": "to show your support for your country, an organization or an idea to encourage or persuade others to do the same",
            "examples": []
        },
        {
            "senseNumber": null,
            "definition": "to represent your country or organization",
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "Our exporters keep the flag flying at international trade exhibitions."
                }
            ]
        },
        {
            "senseNumber": null,
            "definition": "something that is likely to make somebody very angry",
            "examples": []
        }
    ],
    "pronunciations": {
        "uk": [
            {
                "pronunciation": "/flæɡ/",
                "audio": "fl/flag/flag__gb_1.mp3"
            }
        ],
        "us": [
            {
                "pronunciation": "/flæɡ/",
                "audio": "fl/flag/flag__us_1.mp3"
            }
        ]
    },
    "wordOrigin": "noun senses 1 to 3 mid 16th cent.: perhaps from obsolete flag ‘drooping’, of unknown ultimate origin. noun sense 5 late Middle English (also in the sense ‘turf, sod’): probably of Scandinavian origin and related to Icelandic flag ‘spot from which a sod has been cut’ and Old Norse flaga ‘slab of stone’. noun sense 4 late Middle English: related to Middle Dutch flag and Danish flæg; of unknown ultimate origin."
}