{
    "term": "mud",
    "partOfSpeech": "noun",
    "ox3000": true,
    "cefr": "b1",
    "definitions": [
        {
            "senseNumber": null,
            "definition": "wet earth that is soft and sticky",
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "The car wheels got stuck in the mud."
                },
                {
                    "text": "Your boots are covered in mud."
                },
                {
                    "text": "Heavy rain caused thick, deep mud on the site."
                },
                {
                    "text": "**mud bricks/huts** *(= made of dried mud)*"
                },
                {
                    "text": "nests made of mud or clay"
                },
                {
                    "text": "Her boots were caked in mud."
                },
                {
                    "text": "Several cars got bogged down in the mud."
                },
                {
                    "text": "She fell in the mud."
                },
                {
                    "text": "The cars had churned the lane into mud."
                },
                {
                    "text": "The mud in the dried-up river bed had cracked."
                },
                {
                    "text": "We squelched through the mud."
                },
                {
                    "text": "Wet mud oozed up between their toes."
                },
                {
                    "text": "footprints left in the hard dried mud"
                },
                {
                    "text": "pigs wallowing in the mud"
                },
                {
                    "text": "They live in mud huts with grass roofs."
                }
            ],
            "topics": ["Geography"],
            "collocations": {
                "adjective": ["deep", "thick", "soft"],
                "verb + mud": ["be caked in", "be caked with", "be covered with"],
                "mud + verb": ["ooze", "crack"],
                "mud + noun": ["brick", "floor", "house"],
                "preposition": ["in the mud", "through the mud"],
                "phrases": ["a layer of mud", "a sea of mud"]
            }
        },
        {
            "senseNumber": null,
            "definition": "not clear at all; not easy to understand",
            "labels": "(informal, humorous)",
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "Oh well, that's all as clear as mud, then."
                }
            ]
        },
        {
            "senseNumber": null,
            "definition": "to criticize or say bad things about somebody in public, in a way that is unfair",
            "labels": "(informal)",
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "The paper has dragged his name through the mud."
                },
                {
                    "text": "They feel their agency has been dragged through the mud by the press."
                },
                {
                    "text": "Football's good name is being dragged through the dirt."
                }
            ]
        },
        {
            "senseNumber": null,
            "definition": "to criticize somebody or accuse somebody of bad things in order to damage their reputation, especially in politics",
            "examples": []
        },
        {
            "senseNumber": null,
            "definition": "people remember and believe the bad things they hear about other people, even if they are later shown to be false",
            "labels": "(saying)",
            "examples": []
        },
        {
            "senseNumber": null,
            "definition": "used to say that somebody is not liked or popular because of something they have done",
            "labels": "(informal, usually humorous)",
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "Your name’s mud around here at the moment!"
                },
                {
                    "text": "If you tell our secret your name will be mud round here."
                }
            ]
        }
    ],
    "pronunciations": {
        "uk": [
            {
                "pronunciation": "/mʌd/",
                "audio": "mu/mud/mud__gb_2.mp3"
            }
        ],
        "us": [
            {
                "pronunciation": "/mʌd/",
                "audio": "mu/mud/mud__us_2.mp3"
            }
        ]
    },
    "wordOrigin": "late Middle English: probably from Middle Low German mudde."
}