{
    "term": "sue",
    "partOfSpeech": "verb",
    "ox5000": true,
    "cefr": "c1",
    "verbForms": {
        "presentSimple": {
            "iYouWeThey": "sue",
            "heSheIt": "sues"
        },
        "pastSimple": "sued",
        "pastParticiple": "sued",
        "ingForm": "suing"
    },
    "definitions": [
        {
            "senseNumber": 1,
            "definition": "to make a claim against a person or an organization in court about something that they have said or done to harm you",
            "sensetop": "sue (somebody/something) for somethingsue somebody/something",
            "cefr": "c1",
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "They threatened to sue if the work was not completed."
                },
                {
                    "text": "to sue somebody for breach of contract",
                    "contextForm": "sue (somebody/something) for something"
                },
                {
                    "text": "to sue somebody for $10 million *(= in order to get money from somebody)*"
                },
                {
                    "text": "to **sue somebody for damages**"
                },
                {
                    "text": "He threatened to sue the company for negligence."
                },
                {
                    "text": "The water authority was successfully sued over his illness.",
                    "contextForm": "sue somebody/something"
                }
            ],
            "topics": ["Law and justice"],
            "collocations": {
                "adverb": ["successfully", "unsuccessfully", "promptly"],
                "verb + sue": ["be able to", "be entitled to", "have the right to"],
                "preposition": ["for", "over"]
            }
        },
        {
            "senseNumber": 2,
            "definition": "to formally ask for something, especially in court",
            "sensetop": "sue for something",
            "labels": "(formal)",
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "to sue for divorce"
                },
                {
                    "text": "The rebels were forced to sue for peace."
                }
            ],
            "collocations": {
                "adverb": ["successfully", "unsuccessfully", "promptly"],
                "verb + sue": ["be able to", "be entitled to", "have the right to"],
                "preposition": ["for", "over"]
            }
        }
    ],
    "pronunciations": {
        "uk": [
            {
                "pronunciation": "/suː/",
                "audio": "su/sue/sue__gb_1.mp3"
            },
            {
                "pronunciation": "/suːz/",
                "audio": "su/sue/sues__gb_1.mp3"
            },
            {
                "pronunciation": "/suːd/",
                "audio": "su/sue/sued__gb_1.mp3"
            },
            {
                "pronunciation": "/ˈsuːɪŋ/",
                "audio": "su/sue/suing__gb_1.mp3"
            }
        ],
        "us": [
            {
                "pronunciation": "/suː/",
                "audio": "su/sue/sue__us_1.mp3"
            },
            {
                "pronunciation": "/suːz/",
                "audio": "su/sue/sues__us_1.mp3"
            },
            {
                "pronunciation": "/suːd/",
                "audio": "su/sue/sued__us_1.mp3"
            },
            {
                "pronunciation": "/ˈsuːɪŋ/",
                "audio": "su/sue/suing__us_1.mp3"
            }
        ]
    },
    "wordOrigin": "Middle English: from Anglo-Norman French suer, based on Latin sequi ‘follow’. Early senses were very similar to those of the verb follow."
}