"get away with" meaning in English

See get away with in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Verb

Audio: en-au-get away with.ogg [Australia] Forms: gets away with [present, singular, third-person], getting away with [participle, present], got away with [past], got away with [UK, participle, past], gotten away with [US, participle, past]
Head templates: {{en-verb|get<,,got,got􂀿UK􂁀:gotten􂀿US􂁀> away with|head=get away with}} get away with (third-person singular simple present gets away with, present participle getting away with, simple past got away with, past participle (UK) got away with or (US) gotten away with)
  1. To get away, or escape, taking (something) with one. Derived forms: get away with murder Coordinate_terms: scot-free
    Sense id: en-get_away_with-en-verb-n1uCvzuN Categories (other): English phrasal verbs with particle (away) Disambiguation of English phrasal verbs with particle (away): 41 47 12
  2. (idiomatic) To escape punishment for doing something objectionable. Tags: idiomatic Translations (to escape punishment for): s’en tirer (French), mit etwas davonkommen (German), mit etwas durchkommen (German), ungeschoren davonkommen (German), ξεφεύγω (xefévgo) (Greek), megúszik (Hungarian), elviszi szárazon [usually, with-negation] (Hungarian), komast upp með (Icelandic), farla franca (Italian), cavarsela (Italian), ujść na sucho [perfective] (Polish), ujść płazem [perfective] (Polish), passar batido (Portuguese), ieși basma curată (Romanian), scăpa basma curată (Romanian), сойти́ с рук (sojtí s ruk) [perfective] (Russian), irse de rositas (Spanish), salirse con la suya (Spanish), komma undan med (Swedish), схо́дити з рук (sxódyty z ruk) (Ukrainian)
    Sense id: en-get_away_with-en-verb-lMhjsRGy Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header, English phrasal verbs with particle (away), English phrasal verbs with particle (with) Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 32 61 8 Disambiguation of English phrasal verbs with particle (away): 41 47 12 Disambiguation of English phrasal verbs with particle (with): 33 53 14 Disambiguation of 'to escape punishment for': 9 87 4
  3. (colloquial, by extension) To avoid the consequences of doing something by an easier method. Tags: broadly, colloquial Translations (avoid doing work): um etwas herumkommen (German), komast upp með (Icelandic), cavarsela (Italian), уви́ливать (uvílivatʹ) [imperfective] (Russian), увильну́ть (uvilʹnútʹ) [perfective] (Russian), escurrir el bulto (Spanish), escaquearse (Spanish), ухиля́тися (uxyljátysja) [imperfective] (Ukrainian), ухили́тися (uxylýtysja) [perfective] (Ukrainian)
    Sense id: en-get_away_with-en-verb-B53TeK0H Categories (other): English phrasal verbs with particle (away) Disambiguation of English phrasal verbs with particle (away): 41 47 12 Disambiguation of 'avoid doing work': 17 6 78

Inflected forms

Download JSON data for get away with meaning in English (8.3kB)

{
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "gets away with",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "getting away with",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "got away with",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "got away with",
      "tags": [
        "UK",
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "gotten away with",
      "tags": [
        "US",
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "get<,,got,got􂀿UK􂁀:gotten􂀿US􂁀> away with",
        "head": "get away with"
      },
      "expansion": "get away with (third-person singular simple present gets away with, present participle getting away with, simple past got away with, past participle (UK) got away with or (US) gotten away with)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "_dis": "41 47 12",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English phrasal verbs with particle (away)",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "coordinate_terms": [
        {
          "_dis1": "97 1 2",
          "word": "scot-free"
        }
      ],
      "derived": [
        {
          "_dis1": "97 1 2",
          "word": "get away with murder"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "The thieves got away with a million pounds' worth of jewellery.",
          "type": "example"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To get away, or escape, taking (something) with one."
      ],
      "id": "en-get_away_with-en-verb-n1uCvzuN",
      "links": [
        [
          "get away",
          "get away"
        ],
        [
          "escape",
          "escape"
        ],
        [
          "with",
          "with"
        ]
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "_dis": "32 61 8",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "41 47 12",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English phrasal verbs with particle (away)",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "33 53 14",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English phrasal verbs with particle (with)",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "Do you think we could get away with taking Dad’s car?",
          "type": "example"
        },
        {
          "text": "Not many people have gotten away with stealing that much money.",
          "type": "example"
        },
        {
          "text": "Our teacher's so strict, he'd never let us get away with anything in class.",
          "type": "example"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2023 March 8, Howard Johnston, “Was Marples the real railway wrecker?”, in RAIL, number 978, page 53",
          "text": "The late Professor Pat White was an outspoken critic. In his 1986 book Forgotten Railways, he dismissed as smoke and mirrors the oft-used argument that 33% of rail routes carried only 1% of the traffic, as it ignores the fact that a third of the national road network also only carried 2% of cars and lorries. But unlike rail, road got away with it because no mention was made of how much it cost the taxpayer to keep them usable.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To escape punishment for doing something objectionable."
      ],
      "id": "en-get_away_with-en-verb-lMhjsRGy",
      "links": [
        [
          "punishment",
          "punishment"
        ],
        [
          "objectionable",
          "objectionable"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic) To escape punishment for doing something objectionable."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic"
      ],
      "translations": [
        {
          "_dis1": "9 87 4",
          "code": "fr",
          "lang": "French",
          "sense": "to escape punishment for",
          "word": "s’en tirer"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "9 87 4",
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "sense": "to escape punishment for",
          "word": "mit etwas davonkommen"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "9 87 4",
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "sense": "to escape punishment for",
          "word": "mit etwas durchkommen"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "9 87 4",
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "sense": "to escape punishment for",
          "word": "ungeschoren davonkommen"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "9 87 4",
          "code": "el",
          "lang": "Greek",
          "roman": "xefévgo",
          "sense": "to escape punishment for",
          "word": "ξεφεύγω"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "9 87 4",
          "code": "hu",
          "lang": "Hungarian",
          "sense": "to escape punishment for",
          "word": "megúszik"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "9 87 4",
          "code": "hu",
          "lang": "Hungarian",
          "sense": "to escape punishment for",
          "tags": [
            "usually",
            "with-negation"
          ],
          "word": "elviszi szárazon"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "9 87 4",
          "code": "is",
          "lang": "Icelandic",
          "sense": "to escape punishment for",
          "word": "komast upp með"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "9 87 4",
          "code": "it",
          "lang": "Italian",
          "sense": "to escape punishment for",
          "word": "farla franca"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "9 87 4",
          "code": "it",
          "lang": "Italian",
          "sense": "to escape punishment for",
          "word": "cavarsela"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "9 87 4",
          "code": "pl",
          "lang": "Polish",
          "sense": "to escape punishment for",
          "tags": [
            "perfective"
          ],
          "word": "ujść na sucho"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "9 87 4",
          "code": "pl",
          "lang": "Polish",
          "sense": "to escape punishment for",
          "tags": [
            "perfective"
          ],
          "word": "ujść płazem"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "9 87 4",
          "code": "pt",
          "lang": "Portuguese",
          "sense": "to escape punishment for",
          "word": "passar batido"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "9 87 4",
          "code": "ro",
          "lang": "Romanian",
          "sense": "to escape punishment for",
          "word": "ieși basma curată"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "9 87 4",
          "code": "ro",
          "lang": "Romanian",
          "sense": "to escape punishment for",
          "word": "scăpa basma curată"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "9 87 4",
          "code": "ru",
          "lang": "Russian",
          "roman": "sojtí s ruk",
          "sense": "to escape punishment for",
          "tags": [
            "perfective"
          ],
          "word": "сойти́ с рук"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "9 87 4",
          "code": "es",
          "lang": "Spanish",
          "sense": "to escape punishment for",
          "word": "irse de rositas"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "9 87 4",
          "code": "es",
          "lang": "Spanish",
          "sense": "to escape punishment for",
          "word": "salirse con la suya"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "9 87 4",
          "code": "sv",
          "lang": "Swedish",
          "sense": "to escape punishment for",
          "word": "komma undan med"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "9 87 4",
          "code": "uk",
          "lang": "Ukrainian",
          "roman": "sxódyty z ruk",
          "sense": "to escape punishment for",
          "word": "схо́дити з рук"
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "_dis": "41 47 12",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English phrasal verbs with particle (away)",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "It's warm today, so you can probably get away with just wearing a short-sleeved shirt.",
          "type": "example"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2022 March 23, Paul Bigland, “HS2 is just 'passing through'”, in RAIL, number 953, page 41",
          "text": "The vehicles resemble something out of Thunderbirds. They have to be squat, long and narrow to fit through the body of the TBM. They also have a cab at each end, as there's no getting away with a three-point turn in a tunnel!",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2022 May 27, Liam McCabe, Sarah Bogdan, “The Best Dishwashers”, in New York Times",
          "text": "But we still sought out the very best cleaners because they let you get away with using cheaper or gentler detergents, loading extra-crusty dishes, or running the quick cycle even with dishes that are pretty gnarly.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To avoid the consequences of doing something by an easier method."
      ],
      "id": "en-get_away_with-en-verb-B53TeK0H",
      "links": [
        [
          "consequence",
          "consequence"
        ],
        [
          "method",
          "method"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(colloquial, by extension) To avoid the consequences of doing something by an easier method."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "broadly",
        "colloquial"
      ],
      "translations": [
        {
          "_dis1": "17 6 78",
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "sense": "avoid doing work",
          "word": "um etwas herumkommen"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "17 6 78",
          "code": "is",
          "lang": "Icelandic",
          "sense": "avoid doing work",
          "word": "komast upp með"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "17 6 78",
          "code": "it",
          "lang": "Italian",
          "sense": "avoid doing work",
          "word": "cavarsela"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "17 6 78",
          "code": "ru",
          "lang": "Russian",
          "roman": "uvílivatʹ",
          "sense": "avoid doing work",
          "tags": [
            "imperfective"
          ],
          "word": "уви́ливать"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "17 6 78",
          "code": "ru",
          "lang": "Russian",
          "roman": "uvilʹnútʹ",
          "sense": "avoid doing work",
          "tags": [
            "perfective"
          ],
          "word": "увильну́ть"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "17 6 78",
          "code": "es",
          "lang": "Spanish",
          "sense": "avoid doing work",
          "word": "escurrir el bulto"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "17 6 78",
          "code": "es",
          "lang": "Spanish",
          "sense": "avoid doing work",
          "word": "escaquearse"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "17 6 78",
          "code": "uk",
          "lang": "Ukrainian",
          "roman": "uxyljátysja",
          "sense": "avoid doing work",
          "tags": [
            "imperfective"
          ],
          "word": "ухиля́тися"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "17 6 78",
          "code": "uk",
          "lang": "Ukrainian",
          "roman": "uxylýtysja",
          "sense": "avoid doing work",
          "tags": [
            "perfective"
          ],
          "word": "ухили́тися"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "audio": "en-au-get away with.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/4/44/En-au-get_away_with.ogg/En-au-get_away_with.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/44/En-au-get_away_with.ogg",
      "tags": [
        "Australia"
      ],
      "text": "Audio (AU)"
    }
  ],
  "word": "get away with"
}
{
  "categories": [
    "English entries with incorrect language header",
    "English lemmas",
    "English multiword terms",
    "English phrasal verbs",
    "English phrasal verbs with particle (away)",
    "English phrasal verbs with particle (with)",
    "English terms with audio links",
    "English verbs"
  ],
  "coordinate_terms": [
    {
      "word": "scot-free"
    }
  ],
  "derived": [
    {
      "word": "get away with murder"
    }
  ],
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "gets away with",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "getting away with",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
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    },
    {
      "form": "got away with",
      "tags": [
        "past"
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    },
    {
      "form": "got away with",
      "tags": [
        "UK",
        "participle",
        "past"
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    },
    {
      "form": "gotten away with",
      "tags": [
        "US",
        "participle",
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    }
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  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "get<,,got,got􂀿UK􂁀:gotten􂀿US􂁀> away with",
        "head": "get away with"
      },
      "expansion": "get away with (third-person singular simple present gets away with, present participle getting away with, simple past got away with, past participle (UK) got away with or (US) gotten away with)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English terms with usage examples"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "The thieves got away with a million pounds' worth of jewellery.",
          "type": "example"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To get away, or escape, taking (something) with one."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "get away",
          "get away"
        ],
        [
          "escape",
          "escape"
        ],
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      ]
    },
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      "categories": [
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        "English terms with quotations",
        "English terms with usage examples"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "Do you think we could get away with taking Dad’s car?",
          "type": "example"
        },
        {
          "text": "Not many people have gotten away with stealing that much money.",
          "type": "example"
        },
        {
          "text": "Our teacher's so strict, he'd never let us get away with anything in class.",
          "type": "example"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2023 March 8, Howard Johnston, “Was Marples the real railway wrecker?”, in RAIL, number 978, page 53",
          "text": "The late Professor Pat White was an outspoken critic. In his 1986 book Forgotten Railways, he dismissed as smoke and mirrors the oft-used argument that 33% of rail routes carried only 1% of the traffic, as it ignores the fact that a third of the national road network also only carried 2% of cars and lorries. But unlike rail, road got away with it because no mention was made of how much it cost the taxpayer to keep them usable.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To escape punishment for doing something objectionable."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "punishment",
          "punishment"
        ],
        [
          "objectionable",
          "objectionable"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic) To escape punishment for doing something objectionable."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "English colloquialisms",
        "English terms with quotations",
        "English terms with usage examples"
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      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "It's warm today, so you can probably get away with just wearing a short-sleeved shirt.",
          "type": "example"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2022 March 23, Paul Bigland, “HS2 is just 'passing through'”, in RAIL, number 953, page 41",
          "text": "The vehicles resemble something out of Thunderbirds. They have to be squat, long and narrow to fit through the body of the TBM. They also have a cab at each end, as there's no getting away with a three-point turn in a tunnel!",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2022 May 27, Liam McCabe, Sarah Bogdan, “The Best Dishwashers”, in New York Times",
          "text": "But we still sought out the very best cleaners because they let you get away with using cheaper or gentler detergents, loading extra-crusty dishes, or running the quick cycle even with dishes that are pretty gnarly.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To avoid the consequences of doing something by an easier method."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "consequence",
          "consequence"
        ],
        [
          "method",
          "method"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(colloquial, by extension) To avoid the consequences of doing something by an easier method."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "broadly",
        "colloquial"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "audio": "en-au-get away with.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/4/44/En-au-get_away_with.ogg/En-au-get_away_with.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/44/En-au-get_away_with.ogg",
      "tags": [
        "Australia"
      ],
      "text": "Audio (AU)"
    }
  ],
  "translations": [
    {
      "code": "fr",
      "lang": "French",
      "sense": "to escape punishment for",
      "word": "s’en tirer"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "to escape punishment for",
      "word": "mit etwas davonkommen"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "to escape punishment for",
      "word": "mit etwas durchkommen"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "to escape punishment for",
      "word": "ungeschoren davonkommen"
    },
    {
      "code": "el",
      "lang": "Greek",
      "roman": "xefévgo",
      "sense": "to escape punishment for",
      "word": "ξεφεύγω"
    },
    {
      "code": "hu",
      "lang": "Hungarian",
      "sense": "to escape punishment for",
      "word": "megúszik"
    },
    {
      "code": "hu",
      "lang": "Hungarian",
      "sense": "to escape punishment for",
      "tags": [
        "usually",
        "with-negation"
      ],
      "word": "elviszi szárazon"
    },
    {
      "code": "is",
      "lang": "Icelandic",
      "sense": "to escape punishment for",
      "word": "komast upp með"
    },
    {
      "code": "it",
      "lang": "Italian",
      "sense": "to escape punishment for",
      "word": "farla franca"
    },
    {
      "code": "it",
      "lang": "Italian",
      "sense": "to escape punishment for",
      "word": "cavarsela"
    },
    {
      "code": "pl",
      "lang": "Polish",
      "sense": "to escape punishment for",
      "tags": [
        "perfective"
      ],
      "word": "ujść na sucho"
    },
    {
      "code": "pl",
      "lang": "Polish",
      "sense": "to escape punishment for",
      "tags": [
        "perfective"
      ],
      "word": "ujść płazem"
    },
    {
      "code": "pt",
      "lang": "Portuguese",
      "sense": "to escape punishment for",
      "word": "passar batido"
    },
    {
      "code": "ro",
      "lang": "Romanian",
      "sense": "to escape punishment for",
      "word": "ieși basma curată"
    },
    {
      "code": "ro",
      "lang": "Romanian",
      "sense": "to escape punishment for",
      "word": "scăpa basma curată"
    },
    {
      "code": "ru",
      "lang": "Russian",
      "roman": "sojtí s ruk",
      "sense": "to escape punishment for",
      "tags": [
        "perfective"
      ],
      "word": "сойти́ с рук"
    },
    {
      "code": "es",
      "lang": "Spanish",
      "sense": "to escape punishment for",
      "word": "irse de rositas"
    },
    {
      "code": "es",
      "lang": "Spanish",
      "sense": "to escape punishment for",
      "word": "salirse con la suya"
    },
    {
      "code": "sv",
      "lang": "Swedish",
      "sense": "to escape punishment for",
      "word": "komma undan med"
    },
    {
      "code": "uk",
      "lang": "Ukrainian",
      "roman": "sxódyty z ruk",
      "sense": "to escape punishment for",
      "word": "схо́дити з рук"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "avoid doing work",
      "word": "um etwas herumkommen"
    },
    {
      "code": "is",
      "lang": "Icelandic",
      "sense": "avoid doing work",
      "word": "komast upp með"
    },
    {
      "code": "it",
      "lang": "Italian",
      "sense": "avoid doing work",
      "word": "cavarsela"
    },
    {
      "code": "ru",
      "lang": "Russian",
      "roman": "uvílivatʹ",
      "sense": "avoid doing work",
      "tags": [
        "imperfective"
      ],
      "word": "уви́ливать"
    },
    {
      "code": "ru",
      "lang": "Russian",
      "roman": "uvilʹnútʹ",
      "sense": "avoid doing work",
      "tags": [
        "perfective"
      ],
      "word": "увильну́ть"
    },
    {
      "code": "es",
      "lang": "Spanish",
      "sense": "avoid doing work",
      "word": "escurrir el bulto"
    },
    {
      "code": "es",
      "lang": "Spanish",
      "sense": "avoid doing work",
      "word": "escaquearse"
    },
    {
      "code": "uk",
      "lang": "Ukrainian",
      "roman": "uxyljátysja",
      "sense": "avoid doing work",
      "tags": [
        "imperfective"
      ],
      "word": "ухиля́тися"
    },
    {
      "code": "uk",
      "lang": "Ukrainian",
      "roman": "uxylýtysja",
      "sense": "avoid doing work",
      "tags": [
        "perfective"
      ],
      "word": "ухили́тися"
    }
  ],
  "word": "get away with"
}

This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-04-26 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-04-21 using wiktextract (93a6c53 and 21a9316). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.