{
    "term": "virus",
    "partOfSpeech": "noun",
    "ox3000": true,
    "cefr": "a2",
    "definitions": [
        {
            "senseNumber": 1,
            "definition": "a living thing, too small to be seen without a microscope, that causes disease in people, animals and plants",
            "labels": "(British English)(informal)(British English)(North American English)(British English)(British English)(British English)(British English)(North American English)(British English)(North American English)(British English)(British English)(British English)(North American English)(British English)(British English)",
            "cefr": "a2",
            "ox3000": true,
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "the **flu/influenza virus**"
                },
                {
                    "text": "patients known to have been **infected with the virus**"
                },
                {
                    "text": "the **human immunodeficiency virus** or HIV"
                },
                {
                    "text": "the hepatitis C virus"
                },
                {
                    "text": "a highly infectious disease **caused by a virus**"
                },
                {
                    "text": "a virus infection"
                },
                {
                    "text": "The vaccination offers good protection against the virus."
                },
                {
                    "text": "It is not clear how she contracted the virus."
                },
                {
                    "text": "An infected person can pass the virus to others."
                },
                {
                    "text": "The virus attacks a variety of cells in the body."
                }
            ],
            "topics": ["Health problems", "Biology"],
            "collocations": {
                "adjective": ["deadly", "killer", "lethal"],
                "verb + virus": ["be infected with", "catch", "contract"],
                "virus + verb": [
                    "infect somebody/​something",
                    "attack somebody/​something",
                    "kill somebody/​something"
                ],
                "virus + noun": ["infection", "vaccine", "transmission"]
            }
        },
        {
            "senseNumber": 2,
            "definition": "a disease caused by a virus",
            "labels": "(informal)",
            "cefr": "a2",
            "ox3000": true,
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "There's a virus going around the office."
                },
                {
                    "text": "I must have caught a virus on holiday."
                }
            ],
            "topics": ["Health problems"],
            "collocations": {
                "adjective": ["deadly", "killer", "lethal"],
                "verb + virus": ["be infected with", "catch", "contract"],
                "virus + verb": [
                    "infect somebody/​something",
                    "attack somebody/​something",
                    "kill somebody/​something"
                ],
                "virus + noun": ["infection", "vaccine", "transmission"]
            }
        },
        {
            "senseNumber": 3,
            "definition": "instructions that are hidden within a computer program and are designed to cause faults or destroy data",
            "cefr": "a2",
            "ox3000": true,
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "a computer virus"
                },
                {
                    "text": "I think I've got a virus on my laptop."
                },
                {
                    "text": "The virus in the software was programmed to corrupt the hard disk."
                },
                {
                    "text": "software errors that can be exploited by virus writers"
                },
                {
                    "text": "A teenage boy was arrested for being the creator of the BomBlast virus that caused severe disruption to the country's defence systems."
                },
                {
                    "text": "Most viruses can only spread if you open an email attachment."
                },
                {
                    "text": "My computer has caught some kind of virus, and it won't let me log on to the internet."
                },
                {
                    "text": "The latest virus will attach itself to all the addresses in your email address book."
                },
                {
                    "text": "Your virus definitions are not up to date."
                },
                {
                    "text": "anti-virus software"
                }
            ],
            "topics": ["Computers"],
            "collocations": {
                "adjective": ["computer", "email"],
                "verb + virus": ["be infected with", "create", "develop"],
                "virus + verb": ["attack something", "destroy something", "spread"],
                "virus + noun": ["threat", "warning", "protection"]
            }
        }
    ],
    "pronunciations": {
        "uk": [
            {
                "pronunciation": "/ˈvaɪrəs/",
                "audio": "vi/virus/virus__gb_2.mp3"
            }
        ],
        "us": [
            {
                "pronunciation": "/ˈvaɪrəs/",
                "audio": "vi/virus/virus__us_1.mp3"
            }
        ]
    },
    "wordOrigin": "late Middle English (denoting the venom of a snake): from Latin, literally ‘slimy liquid, poison’. The earlier medical sense, superseded by the current use as a result of improved scientific understanding, was ‘a substance produced in the body as the result of disease, especially one capable of infecting others’."
}