{"id": "diffuse", "metadata": {"operation": "retrieve", "provider": "Oxford University Press", "schema": "RetrieveEntry"}, "results": [{"id": "diffuse", "language": "en-gb", "lexicalEntries": [{"derivatives": [{"id": "diffusely", "text": "diffusely"}, {"id": "diffuseness", "text": "diffuseness"}], "entries": [{"etymologies": ["late Middle English: from Latin diffus- \u2018poured out\u2019, from the verb diffundere, from dis- \u2018away\u2019 + fundere \u2018pour\u2019; the adjective via French diffus or Latin diffusus \u2018extensive\u2019, from diffundere"], "notes": [{"text": "The verbs diffuse and defuse sound similar but have different meanings. Diffuse means, broadly, \u2018disperse\u2019, while the non-literal meaning of defuse is \u2018reduce the danger or tension in\u2019. Thus sentences such as Cooper successfully diffused the situation are regarded as incorrect, while Cooper successfully defused the situation would be correct. However, such uses of diffuse are widespread, and can make sense: the image in, for example, only peaceful dialogue between the two countries could diffuse tension is not of making a bomb safe but of reducing something dangerous to particles and dispersing them harmlessly", "type": "editorialNote"}], "pronunciations": [{"audioFile": "https://audio.oxforddictionaries.com/en/mp3/diffuse_gb_2.mp3", "dialects": ["British English"], "phoneticNotation": "IPA", "phoneticSpelling": "d\u026a\u02c8fju\u02d0z"}], "senses": [{"definitions": ["spread over a wide area or between a large number of people"], "examples": [{"notes": [{"text": "no object", "type": "grammaticalNote"}], "text": "technologies diffuse rapidly"}, {"notes": [{"text": "with object", "type": "grammaticalNote"}], "text": "these museums seek to diffuse knowledge about the natural world and natural processes"}], "id": "m_en_gbus0274810.005", "shortDefinitions": ["spread over wide area"], "subsenses": [{"definitions": ["intermingle with another substance by movement, typically in a specified direction or at specified speed"], "domainClasses": [{"id": "physics", "text": "Physics"}], "domains": [{"id": "physics", "text": "Physics"}], "examples": [{"notes": [{"text": "no object", "type": "grammaticalNote"}], "text": "oxygen molecules diffuse across the membrane"}, {"notes": [{"text": "with object", "type": "grammaticalNote"}], "text": "gas is diffused into the bladder"}], "id": "m_en_gbus0274810.011", "shortDefinitions": ["intermingle with another substance"]}, {"definitions": ["cause (light) to spread evenly to reduce glare and harsh shadows."], "id": "m_en_gbus0274810.012", "notes": [{"text": "with object", "type": "grammaticalNote"}], "shortDefinitions": ["cause light to glow faintly"], "synonyms": [{"language": "en", "text": "spread"}, {"language": "en", "text": "spread out"}, {"language": "en", "text": "spread around"}, {"language": "en", "text": "send out"}, {"language": "en", "text": "scatter"}, {"language": "en", "text": "disperse"}], "thesaurusLinks": [{"entry_id": "diffuse", "sense_id": "t_en_gb0003938.001"}]}], "synonyms": [{"language": "en", "text": "spread"}, {"language": "en", "text": "spread out"}, {"language": "en", "text": "spread around"}, {"language": "en", "text": "send out"}, {"language": "en", "text": "scatter"}, {"language": "en", "text": "disperse"}], "thesaurusLinks": [{"entry_id": "diffuse", "sense_id": "t_en_gb0003938.001"}]}]}], "language": "en-gb", "lexicalCategory": {"id": "verb", "text": "Verb"}, "text": "diffuse"}, {"derivatives": [{"id": "diffusely", "text": "diffusely"}, {"id": "diffuseness", "text": "diffuseness"}], "entries": [{"notes": [{"text": "The verbs diffuse and defuse sound similar but have different meanings. Diffuse means, broadly, \u2018disperse\u2019, while the non-literal meaning of defuse is \u2018reduce the danger or tension in\u2019. Thus sentences such as Cooper successfully diffused the situation are regarded as incorrect, while Cooper successfully defused the situation would be correct. However, such uses of diffuse are widespread, and can make sense: the image in, for example, only peaceful dialogue between the two countries could diffuse tension is not of making a bomb safe but of reducing something dangerous to particles and dispersing them harmlessly", "type": "editorialNote"}], "pronunciations": [{"audioFile": "https://audio.oxforddictionaries.com/en/mp3/diffuse_gb_1.mp3", "dialects": ["British English"], "phoneticNotation": "IPA", "phoneticSpelling": "d\u026a\u02c8fju\u02d0s"}], "senses": [{"definitions": ["spread out over a large area; not concentrated"], "examples": [{"text": "the diffuse community which centred on the church"}, {"text": "the light is more diffuse"}], "id": "m_en_gbus0274810.016", "shortDefinitions": ["spread out over large area"], "subsenses": [{"definitions": ["(of disease) not localized in the body"], "domainClasses": [{"id": "medicine", "text": "Medicine"}], "examples": [{"text": "diffuse hyperplasia"}], "id": "m_en_gbus0274810.018", "shortDefinitions": ["referring to disease not localized in body"]}], "synonyms": [{"language": "en", "text": "spread out"}, {"language": "en", "text": "diffused"}, {"language": "en", "text": "scattered"}, {"language": "en", "text": "dispersed"}, {"language": "en", "text": "not concentrated"}], "thesaurusLinks": [{"entry_id": "diffuse", "sense_id": "t_en_gb0003938.002"}]}, {"definitions": ["lacking clarity or conciseness"], "examples": [{"text": "the second argument is more diffuse"}], "id": "m_en_gbus0274810.020", "shortDefinitions": ["lacking clarity or conciseness"], "synonyms": [{"language": "en", "text": "verbose"}, {"language": "en", "text": "wordy"}, {"language": "en", "text": "prolix"}, {"language": "en", "text": "long-winded"}, {"language": "en", "text": "overlong"}, {"language": "en", "text": "long-drawn-out"}, {"language": "en", "text": "protracted"}, {"language": "en", "text": "discursive"}, {"language": "en", "text": "rambling"}, {"language": "en", "text": "wandering"}, {"language": "en", "text": "meandering"}, {"language": "en", "text": "maundering"}, {"language": "en", "text": "digressive"}, {"language": "en", "text": "circuitous"}, {"language": "en", "text": "roundabout"}, {"language": "en", "text": "circumlocutory"}, {"language": "en", "text": "periphrastic"}], "thesaurusLinks": [{"entry_id": "diffuse", "sense_id": "t_en_gb0003938.003"}]}]}], "language": "en-gb", "lexicalCategory": {"id": "adjective", "text": "Adjective"}, "text": "diffuse"}], "type": "headword", "word": "diffuse"}], "word": "diffuse"}