{
    "term": "union",
    "partOfSpeech": "noun",
    "ox3000": true,
    "cefr": "b1",
    "definitions": [
        {
            "senseNumber": 1,
            "definition": "an organization of workers, usually in a particular industry, that exists to protect their interests, improve conditions of work, etc.",
            "labels": "British English alsoNorth American English also",
            "cefr": "b1",
            "ox3000": true,
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "I've **joined the union**."
                },
                {
                    "text": "**Teachers' unions** in England are demanding the same improvements as in Scotland."
                },
                {
                    "text": "a **union leader/official/representative/activist**"
                },
                {
                    "text": "the right to **form a union**"
                },
                {
                    "text": "Do you belong to a union?"
                },
                {
                    "text": "The union represents five million workers."
                },
                {
                    "text": "public sector unions"
                },
                {
                    "text": "Greece's main **workers' union**"
                },
                {
                    "text": "a **union member **"
                },
                {
                    "text": "a member of a union"
                },
                {
                    "text": "a fall in **union membership**"
                },
                {
                    "text": "She became active in the teachers' union."
                },
                {
                    "text": "The nurses' union negotiated a 3% pay rise."
                },
                {
                    "text": "The union represents 40% of all hospital workers."
                },
                {
                    "text": "The union threatened strike action if its demands were not met."
                },
                {
                    "text": "He spoke out at a meeting of the National Union of Journalists."
                },
                {
                    "text": "The figures come from a survey by public-sector unions."
                },
                {
                    "text": "The news emerged yesterday after a meeting between managers and union representatives."
                },
                {
                    "text": "unofficial action not authorized by the union leadership"
                }
            ],
            "topics": ["Business", "Working life"],
            "collocations": {
                "adjective": ["labor", "trade", "trades"],
                "verb + union": ["form", "organize", "set up"],
                "union + verb": [
                    "be affiliated to something",
                    "represent somebody/​something",
                    "negotiate (something)"
                ],
                "union + noun": ["confederation", "federation", "movement"]
            }
        },
        {
            "senseNumber": 2,
            "definition": "an association or a club for people or organizations with the same interest",
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "the Scottish Rugby Union"
                }
            ]
        },
        {
            "senseNumber": 3,
            "definition": "a group of states or countries that have the same central government or that agree to work together",
            "cefr": "b1",
            "ox3000": true,
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "the former Soviet Union"
                },
                {
                    "text": "the European Union"
                },
                {
                    "text": "Churchill was not hostile to the continent's attempt at forming a union."
                },
                {
                    "text": "The crisis will be discussed as a meeting of African Union leaders this week."
                }
            ]
        },
        {
            "senseNumber": 4,
            "definition": "the US (used especially at the time of the Civil War)",
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "the Union and the Confederacy"
                },
                {
                    "text": "the State of the Union address by the President"
                }
            ]
        },
        {
            "senseNumber": 5,
            "definition": "the act of joining two or more things together; the state of being joined together",
            "sensetop": "union with somethingunion between A and B",
            "cefr": "b2",
            "ox3000": true,
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "a meeting to discuss economic and currency union"
                },
                {
                    "text": "Northern Ireland’s union with Britain",
                    "contextForm": "union with something"
                },
                {
                    "text": "political union between the country and its neighbour",
                    "contextForm": "union between A and B"
                },
                {
                    "text": "sexual union"
                },
                {
                    "text": "Some of the member states wanted a closer union rather than the loose confederation that developed."
                },
                {
                    "text": "a move in the direction of full political union"
                },
                {
                    "text": "currency union between the two countries"
                }
            ],
            "collocations": {
                "adjective": ["close", "loose", "full"],
                "verb + union": ["create", "form", "dissolve"],
                "preposition": ["union between", "union with"]
            }
        },
        {
            "senseNumber": 6,
            "definition": "a marriage",
            "labels": "(old-fashioned or formal)",
            "cefr": "c2",
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "Their union was blessed with six children."
                }
            ],
            "topics": ["Life stages"],
            "collocations": {
                "adjective": ["civil", "legal", "holy"],
                "verb + union": ["allow", "recognize"]
            }
        }
    ],
    "pronunciations": {
        "uk": [
            {
                "pronunciation": "/ˈjuːniən/",
                "audio": "un/union/union__gb_1.mp3"
            }
        ],
        "us": [
            {
                "pronunciation": "/ˈjuːniən/",
                "audio": "un/union/union__us_2.mp3"
            }
        ]
    },
    "wordOrigin": "late Middle English: from Old French, or from ecclesiastical Latin unio(n-) ‘unity’, from Latin unus ‘one’."
}