{
    "term": "modify",
    "partOfSpeech": "verb",
    "academic": true,
    "ox3000": true,
    "cefr": "b2",
    "verbForms": {
        "presentSimple": {
            "iYouWeThey": "modify",
            "heSheIt": "modifies"
        },
        "pastSimple": "modified",
        "pastParticiple": "modified",
        "ingForm": "modifying"
    },
    "definitions": [
        {
            "senseNumber": 1,
            "definition": "to change something slightly, especially in order to make it more suitable for a particular purpose",
            "sensetop": "modify something",
            "cefr": "b2",
            "ox3000": true,
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "Patients are taught how to modify their diet."
                },
                {
                    "text": "We found it cheaper to modify existing equipment rather than buy new."
                },
                {
                    "text": "The software we use has been modified for us."
                },
                {
                    "text": "The law has been **significantly modified** since that ruling."
                },
                {
                    "text": "heavily/highly modified"
                },
                {
                    "text": "A modified version of my article was published in the newspaper."
                },
                {
                    "text": "Permissions are arranged so that you can't delete or modify files."
                },
                {
                    "text": "Check for the most recently modified version of a file."
                },
                {
                    "text": "Stories and characters had to be modified to fit a 21st-century audience."
                },
                {
                    "text": "The original text has been modified so radically that it is barely recognizable."
                },
                {
                    "text": "These ideas are still used today, though in a slightly modified form."
                },
                {
                    "text": "We can modify the service for local conditions."
                },
                {
                    "text": "You may need to modify your plans a little."
                },
                {
                    "text": "using a highly modified version of the program"
                },
                {
                    "text": "The office software has been modified over the years."
                }
            ],
            "synonyms": "adapt",
            "collocations": {
                "adverb": ["considerably", "drastically", "extensively"],
                "verb + modify": ["have to", "need to"],
                "preposition": ["for"],
                "phrases": [
                    "highly modified",
                    "in a modified form",
                    "modified to fit something"
                ]
            }
        },
        {
            "senseNumber": 2,
            "definition": "to make something less extreme",
            "sensetop": "modify something",
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "She refused to **modify her behaviour**."
                },
                {
                    "text": "He listened to the arguments and modified his view of the party."
                },
                {
                    "text": "The social worker at first aimed to get Mrs R to modify her behaviour, without success."
                }
            ],
            "synonyms": "adjust"
        },
        {
            "senseNumber": 3,
            "definition": "a word, such as an adjective or adverb, that modifies another word or group of words describes it or limits its meaning in some way",
            "sensetop": "modify something",
            "labels": "(grammar)",
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "In ‘walk slowly’, the adverb ‘slowly’ modifies the verb ‘walk’."
                }
            ]
        }
    ],
    "pronunciations": {
        "uk": [
            {
                "pronunciation": "/ˈmɒdɪfaɪ/",
                "audio": "mo/modify/modify__gb_1.mp3"
            },
            {
                "pronunciation": "/ˈmɒdɪfaɪz/",
                "audio": "mo/modify/modifies__gb_1.mp3"
            },
            {
                "pronunciation": "/ˈmɒdɪfaɪd/",
                "audio": "mo/modify/modified__gb_1.mp3"
            },
            {
                "pronunciation": "/ˈmɒdɪfaɪɪŋ/",
                "audio": "mo/modify/modifying__gb_1.mp3"
            }
        ],
        "us": [
            {
                "pronunciation": "/ˈmɑːdɪfaɪ/",
                "audio": "mo/modify/modify__us_1.mp3"
            },
            {
                "pronunciation": "/ˈmɑːdɪfaɪz/",
                "audio": "mo/modify/modifies__us_1.mp3"
            },
            {
                "pronunciation": "/ˈmɑːdɪfaɪd/",
                "audio": "mo/modify/modified__us_1.mp3"
            },
            {
                "pronunciation": "/ˈmɑːdɪfaɪɪŋ/",
                "audio": "mo/modify/modifying__us_1.mp3"
            }
        ]
    },
    "wordOrigin": "late Middle English: from Old French modifier, from Latin modificare, from modus ‘measure’, from an Indo-European root shared by mete."
}