{
    "term": "steep",
    "partOfSpeech": "adjective",
    "ox3000": true,
    "cefr": "b2",
    "definitions": [
        {
            "senseNumber": 1,
            "definition": "rising or falling quickly, not gradually",
            "cefr": "b2",
            "ox3000": true,
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "a **steep hill/slope**"
                },
                {
                    "text": "a steep climb/descent/drop"
                },
                {
                    "text": "a steep flight of stairs"
                },
                {
                    "text": "The path grew steeper as we climbed higher."
                },
                {
                    "text": "The steep banks of the river are largely tree-covered."
                }
            ],
            "topics": ["Geography"],
            "collocations": {
                "verbs": ["be", "look", "seem"],
                "adverb": ["extremely", "fairly", "very"]
            }
        },
        {
            "senseNumber": 2,
            "definition": "sudden and very big",
            "cefr": "b2",
            "ox3000": true,
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "a **steep decline** in the birth rate"
                },
                {
                    "text": "a steep rise in unemployment"
                },
                {
                    "text": "Setting up a new business is risky and involves a **steep learning curve**."
                }
            ],
            "synonyms": "sharp"
        },
        {
            "senseNumber": 3,
            "definition": "too much; unreasonable",
            "labels": "(informal)",
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "£4 for a cup of coffee seems a little steep to me."
                },
                {
                    "text": "He wants to move in here with us? That’s a bit steep!"
                }
            ],
            "synonyms": "expensive"
        }
    ],
    "pronunciations": {
        "uk": [
            {
                "pronunciation": "/stiːp/",
                "audio": "st/steep/steep__gb_1.mp3"
            }
        ],
        "us": [
            {
                "pronunciation": "/stiːp/",
                "audio": "st/steep/steep__us_1.mp3"
            }
        ]
    },
    "wordOrigin": "adjective Old English stēap ‘extending to a great height’, of West Germanic origin; related to steeple and the verb stoop."
}