{
    "term": "probability",
    "partOfSpeech": "noun",
    "ox5000": true,
    "cefr": "b2",
    "definitions": [
        {
            "senseNumber": 1,
            "definition": "how likely something is to happen",
            "cefr": "b2",
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "The probability is that prices will rise rapidly."
                },
                {
                    "text": "There seemed to be a high probability of success."
                },
                {
                    "text": "We can say with a high degree of probability that the poem was written by Shakespeare."
                },
                {
                    "text": "genetic factors that influence the probability of developing cancer"
                },
                {
                    "text": "measures to increase the probability for a sustained recovery"
                }
            ],
            "synonyms": "likelihood",
            "topics": ["Doubt, guessing and certainty"],
            "collocations": {
                "adjective": ["high", "real", "strong"],
                "… of probability": ["degree"],
                "verb + probability": ["have", "increase", "decrease"],
                "preposition": ["probability for", "probability of"],
                "phrases": ["in all probability", "on a/​the balance of probabilities"]
            }
        },
        {
            "senseNumber": 2,
            "definition": "a thing that is likely to happen",
            "cefr": "b2",
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "A fall in interest rates is a **strong probability** in the present economic climate."
                },
                {
                    "text": "It now seems a probability rather than just a possibility."
                }
            ]
        },
        {
            "senseNumber": 3,
            "definition": "a ratio showing the chances that a particular thing will happen",
            "labels": "(mathematics)",
            "cefr": "b2",
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "There is a 60 per cent probability that the population will be infected with the disease."
                }
            ],
            "topics": ["Maths and measurement"]
        },
        {
            "senseNumber": null,
            "definition": "(considering) the evidence on both sides of an argument, to find the most likely reason for or result of something",
            "labels": "(formal)",
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "The balance of evidence suggests the Liberal party's decline began before the First World War."
                },
                {
                    "text": "The coroner thought that on the balance of probabilities, the pilot had suffered a stroke just before the crash."
                }
            ],
            "topics": ["Opinion and argument"]
        },
        {
            "senseNumber": null,
            "definition": "(considering) the evidence on both sides of an argument, to find the most likely reason for or result of something",
            "labels": "(formal)",
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "The coroner thought that on the balance of probabilities, the pilot had suffered a stroke just before the crash."
                }
            ]
        },
        {
            "senseNumber": null,
            "definition": "it is very likely that",
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "In all probability he failed to understand the consequences of his actions."
                },
                {
                    "text": "In all probability she wouldn't come even if we invited her."
                }
            ]
        }
    ],
    "pronunciations": {
        "uk": [
            {
                "pronunciation": "/ˌprɒbəˈbɪləti/",
                "audio": "pr/probability/probability__gb_3.mp3"
            }
        ],
        "us": [
            {
                "pronunciation": "/ˌprɑːbəˈbɪləti/",
                "audio": "pr/probability/probability__us_1.mp3"
            }
        ]
    },
    "wordOrigin": "late Middle English: from Latin probabilitas, from probabilis ‘provable, credible’, from probare ‘to test, demonstrate’."
}