{
    "term": "threshold",
    "partOfSpeech": "noun",
    "ox5000": true,
    "cefr": "c1",
    "definitions": [
        {
            "senseNumber": 1,
            "definition": "the floor or ground at the bottom of a doorway, considered as the entrance to a building or room",
            "sensetop": "on the threshold",
            "cefr": "c1",
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "He stepped across the threshold."
                },
                {
                    "text": "She stood hesitating on the threshold.",
                    "contextForm": "on the threshold"
                }
            ],
            "topics": ["Houses and homes", "Buildings"],
            "collocations": {
                "verb + threshold": ["cross"],
                "preposition": [
                    "across the threshold",
                    "over the threshold",
                    "on the threshold"
                ]
            }
        },
        {
            "senseNumber": 2,
            "definition": "the level at which something starts to happen or have an effect",
            "cefr": "c1",
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "He has a low **boredom threshold** *(= he gets bored easily)*."
                },
                {
                    "text": "I have a high **pain threshold** *(= I can suffer a lot of pain before I start to react)*."
                },
                {
                    "text": "My earnings are just above the **tax threshold** *(= more than the amount at which you start paying tax)*."
                },
                {
                    "text": "The number of people with the disease is reaching a critical threshold."
                },
                {
                    "text": "They earn wages below the decency threshold set by the EU."
                }
            ],
            "collocations": {
                "adjective": ["high", "low", "maximum"],
                "verb + threshold": ["have", "reach", "meet"],
                "threshold + noun": ["level", "value"],
                "preposition": ["above a/​the threshold", "below a/​the threshold"]
            }
        },
        {
            "senseNumber": 3,
            "definition": "the point just before a new situation, period of life, etc. begins",
            "sensetop": "on the threshold of something",
            "cefr": "c1",
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "She felt as though she was on the threshold of a new life.",
                    "contextForm": "on the threshold of something"
                }
            ]
        }
    ],
    "pronunciations": {
        "uk": [
            {
                "pronunciation": "/ˈθreʃhəʊld/",
                "audio": "th/threshold/threshold__gb_1.mp3"
            }
        ],
        "us": [
            {
                "pronunciation": "/ˈθreʃhəʊld/",
                "audio": "th/threshold/threshold__us_1_rr.mp3"
            }
        ]
    },
    "wordOrigin": "Old English therscold, threscold; related to German dialect Drischaufel; the first element is related to thresh (in a Germanic sense ‘tread’), but the origin of the second element is unknown."
}