{
    "term": "torture",
    "partOfSpeech": "noun",
    "ox5000": true,
    "cefr": "c1",
    "definitions": [
        {
            "senseNumber": 1,
            "definition": "the act of causing somebody severe pain in order to punish them or make them say or do something",
            "sensetop": "under torture",
            "cefr": "c1",
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "Many of the refugees have suffered torture."
                },
                {
                    "text": "the use of torture"
                },
                {
                    "text": "terrible instruments of torture"
                },
                {
                    "text": "His confessions were made under torture.",
                    "contextForm": "under torture"
                },
                {
                    "text": "I heard stories of gruesome tortures in prisons."
                }
            ],
            "topics": ["War and conflict"],
            "collocations": {
                "adjective": ["brutal", "systematic", "mental"],
                "verb + torture": ["inflict", "endure", "suffer"],
                "torture + noun": ["camp", "chamber", "room"]
            }
        },
        {
            "senseNumber": 2,
            "definition": "mental or physical pain; something that causes this",
            "labels": "(informal)",
            "cefr": "c1",
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "The interview was sheer torture from start to finish."
                }
            ],
            "topics": ["Feelings"],
            "collocations": {
                "adjective": ["brutal", "systematic", "mental"],
                "verb + torture": ["inflict", "endure", "suffer"],
                "torture + noun": ["camp", "chamber", "room"]
            }
        }
    ],
    "pronunciations": {
        "uk": [
            {
                "pronunciation": "/ˈtɔːtʃə(r)/",
                "audio": "to/torture/torture__gb_1.mp3"
            }
        ],
        "us": [
            {
                "pronunciation": "/ˈtɔːrtʃər/",
                "audio": "to/torture/torture__us_1.mp3"
            }
        ]
    },
    "wordOrigin": "late Middle English (in the sense ‘distortion, twisting’, or a physical disorder characterized by this): via French from late Latin tortura ‘twisting, torment’, from Latin torquere ‘to twist’."
}