{
    "term": "wit",
    "partOfSpeech": "noun",
    "ox5000": true,
    "cefr": "c1",
    "definitions": [
        {
            "senseNumber": 1,
            "definition": "the ability to say or write things that are both clever and humorous",
            "cefr": "c1",
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "to have a **quick/sharp/dry/ready wit**"
                },
                {
                    "text": "a woman of wit and intelligence"
                },
                {
                    "text": "a book full of the **wit and wisdom** of his 30 years in politics"
                },
                {
                    "text": "He had a dry wit."
                },
                {
                    "text": "He has plenty of wit and imagination."
                },
                {
                    "text": "He was blessed with great charm and a quick wit."
                },
                {
                    "text": "I wanted to bowl him over with my sparkling wit."
                },
                {
                    "text": "She had to use all her native wit (= the wit she was born with) to convince the police."
                }
            ],
            "topics": ["Personal qualities"],
            "collocations": {
                "adjective": ["great", "quick", "ready"],
                "verb + wit": ["have"],
                "phrases": ["wit and wisdom"]
            }
        },
        {
            "senseNumber": 2,
            "definition": "a person who has the ability to say or write things that are both clever and humorous",
            "cefr": "c2",
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "a well-known wit and raconteur"
                }
            ],
            "topics": ["Personal qualities"]
        },
        {
            "senseNumber": 3,
            "definition": "your ability to think quickly and clearly and to make good decisions",
            "cefr": "c1",
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "He needed all his wits to find his way out."
                },
                {
                    "text": "The game was a long **battle of wits**."
                },
                {
                    "text": "Kate paused and **gathered her wits**."
                },
                {
                    "text": "a chance to **pit your wits against** *(= compete with, using your intelligence)* our quiz champion"
                },
                {
                    "text": "She couldn't seem to gather her wits and tell us what had happened."
                },
                {
                    "text": "The game allows you to match wits with a computer criminal."
                },
                {
                    "text": "The strike developed into a battle of wits between management and workers."
                },
                {
                    "text": "Living alone in the country had dulled his wits."
                }
            ],
            "collocations": {
                "verb + wits": ["use", "have", "gather"],
                "phrases": [
                    "a battle of wits",
                    "have your wits about you",
                    "keep your wits about you"
                ]
            }
        },
        {
            "senseNumber": 4,
            "definition": "having the type of intelligence mentioned",
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "a quick-witted group of students"
                }
            ]
        },
        {
            "senseNumber": 5,
            "definition": "the intelligence or good sense to know what is the right thing to do",
            "sensetop": "wit to do something",
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "At least you had the wit to ask for help."
                },
                {
                    "text": "It should not be **beyond the wit of man** to resolve this dispute."
                },
                {
                    "text": "I hope he has the wit to take the key with him."
                },
                {
                    "text": "I hope you had the wits to apologize."
                },
                {
                    "text": "You'd think they'd have the wit to ask for help."
                },
                {
                    "text": "It shouldn't be beyond the wit of man to solve this issue."
                }
            ],
            "collocations": {
                "adjective": ["native"],
                "verb + wit": ["have", "use"],
                "phrases": ["beyond the wit of man"]
            }
        },
        {
            "senseNumber": null,
            "definition": "to be so worried by a problem that you do not know what to do next",
            "labels": "(informal)",
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "She was at her wits’ end wondering how she’d manage it all in the time."
                },
                {
                    "text": "I'm at my wits' end trying to cope with his moods."
                }
            ],
            "topics": ["Feelings"]
        },
        {
            "senseNumber": null,
            "definition": "to be very frightened; to frighten somebody very much",
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "I was scared out of my wits!"
                },
                {
                    "text": "The latest news has scared the wits out of investors."
                }
            ]
        },
        {
            "senseNumber": null,
            "definition": "to be aware of what is happening around you and ready to think and act quickly",
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "They do tough interviews so you'll need to have your wits about you."
                }
            ]
        },
        {
            "senseNumber": null,
            "definition": "to earn money by clever or sometimes dishonest means",
            "examples": []
        },
        {
            "senseNumber": null,
            "definition": "you use to wit when you are about to be more exact about something that you have just referred to",
            "labels": "(old-fashioned, formal)",
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "Pilot error, to wit failure to follow procedures, was the cause of the accident."
                }
            ]
        }
    ],
    "pronunciations": {
        "uk": [
            {
                "pronunciation": "/wɪt/",
                "audio": "wi/wit/wit__gb_1.mp3"
            }
        ],
        "us": [
            {
                "pronunciation": "/wɪt/",
                "audio": "wi/wit/wit__us_1.mp3"
            }
        ]
    },
    "wordOrigin": "Old English wit(t), gewit(t), denoting the mind as the seat of consciousness, of Germanic origin; related to Dutch weet and German Witz, also to wit in the archaic sense ‘have knowledge’."
}