{
    "term": "investigate",
    "partOfSpeech": "verb",
    "academic": true,
    "ox3000": true,
    "cefr": "b1",
    "verbForms": {
        "presentSimple": {
            "iYouWeThey": "investigate",
            "heSheIt": "investigates"
        },
        "pastSimple": "investigated",
        "pastParticiple": "investigated",
        "ingForm": "investigating"
    },
    "definitions": [
        {
            "senseNumber": 1,
            "definition": "to carefully examine the facts of a situation, an event, a crime, etc. to find out the truth about it or how it happened",
            "sensetop": "investigate somethinginvestigate what, how, etc…",
            "labels": "(informal)(British English)(North American English)(British English)(North American English)(especially British English)(especially British English)(especially North American English)(especially British English)",
            "cefr": "b1",
            "ox3000": true,
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "The FBI has been called in to investigate."
                },
                {
                    "text": "the senior **investigating officer**"
                },
                {
                    "text": "‘What was that noise?’ ‘I'll go and investigate.’"
                },
                {
                    "text": "Detectives are currently investigating possible links between the murders.",
                    "contextForm": "investigate something"
                },
                {
                    "text": "to **investigate a crime/a complaint/an incident**"
                },
                {
                    "text": "The allegations have not yet been **thoroughly investigated**."
                },
                {
                    "text": "The report calls for a commission to **investigate the matter** further."
                },
                {
                    "text": "The case will be investigated in detail to determine whether the claims are true."
                },
                {
                    "text": "Police are investigating what happened.",
                    "contextForm": "investigate what, how, etc…"
                },
                {
                    "text": "The company has pledged to investigate claims that its products are unsafe."
                },
                {
                    "text": "The company said it will investigate any customer complaints."
                }
            ],
            "topics": ["Crime and punishment"],
            "collocations": {
                "adverb": ["carefully", "closely", "in detail"],
                "verb + investigate": [
                    "ask somebody to",
                    "be called in to",
                    "decide to"
                ],
                "preposition": ["for"]
            }
        },
        {
            "senseNumber": 2,
            "definition": "to try to find out information about somebody’s character, activities, etc.",
            "sensetop": "investigate somebody for somethinginvestigate somebody over somethinginvestigate somebody",
            "cefr": "b1",
            "ox3000": true,
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "This is not the first time he has been investigated by the police for fraud.",
                    "contextForm": "investigate somebody for something"
                },
                {
                    "text": "She is being investigated over allegations of illegal business dealings.",
                    "contextForm": "investigate somebody over something"
                },
                {
                    "text": "They were **investigated on suspicion of** drug smuggling.",
                    "contextForm": "investigate somebody"
                }
            ]
        },
        {
            "senseNumber": 3,
            "definition": "to find out information and facts about a subject or problem by study or research",
            "sensetop": "investigate somethinginvestigate how, what, etc…",
            "cefr": "b1",
            "ox3000": true,
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "The study **investigates the effects** of feeding a high-energy diet to cows.",
                    "contextForm": "investigate something"
                },
                {
                    "text": "Researchers are investigating how foreign speakers gain fluency.",
                    "contextForm": "investigate how, what, etc…"
                }
            ],
            "collocations": {
                "adverb": ["carefully", "closely", "in detail"],
                "verb + investigate": [
                    "ask somebody to",
                    "be called in to",
                    "decide to"
                ],
                "preposition": ["for"]
            }
        }
    ],
    "pronunciations": {
        "uk": [
            {
                "pronunciation": "/ɪnˈvestɪɡeɪt/",
                "audio": "in/investigate/investigate__gb_2.mp3"
            },
            {
                "pronunciation": "/ɪnˈvestɪɡeɪts/",
                "audio": "in/investigate/investigates__gb_1.mp3"
            },
            {
                "pronunciation": "/ɪnˈvestɪɡeɪtɪd/",
                "audio": "in/investigate/investigated__gb_1.mp3"
            },
            {
                "pronunciation": "/ɪnˈvestɪɡeɪtɪŋ/",
                "audio": "in/investigate/investigating__gb_1.mp3"
            }
        ],
        "us": [
            {
                "pronunciation": "/ɪnˈvestɪɡeɪt/",
                "audio": "in/investigate/investigate__us_1.mp3"
            },
            {
                "pronunciation": "/ɪnˈvestɪɡeɪts/",
                "audio": "in/investigate/investigates__us_1.mp3"
            },
            {
                "pronunciation": "/ɪnˈvestɪɡeɪtɪd/",
                "audio": "in/investigate/investigated__us_1.mp3"
            },
            {
                "pronunciation": "/ɪnˈvestɪɡeɪtɪŋ/",
                "audio": "in/investigate/investigating__us_1.mp3"
            }
        ]
    },
    "wordOrigin": "early 16th cent.: from Latin investigat- ‘traced out’, from the verb investigare, from in- ‘into’ + vestigare ‘track, trace out’."
}