miracle
part of speech
noun (a miracle, miracles)
meaning for a pupil
1) A wonderful event that seems impossible and that some people believe is done by God. tree →
2) A very lucky or surprising event (it's a miracle nobody was hurt). tree →
3) Something amazing (a miracle of modern science). tree →
sense in the lessons
Interpretation: The writer treats the idea of place value as a wonder. Sefer Yetzirah's talk of numbers is read as the basis of this. In the primary lessons: In religious education: stories of miracles. In everyday life and news: "It's a miracle we caught the bus!" In science: medicine is sometimes called a miracle of modern science. Phrases: a miracle cure, it's a miracle that, work miracles.
examples
- The principle of position is the "miracle" that makes one, many and many, one. (Mordell, The Origin of Letters and Numerals according to Sefer Yetzirah (1914)) tree →
- It was a miracle that nobody was hurt in the crash. tree →
- The story tells of a miracle in which water turned into wine. tree →
- The new medicine worked like a miracle. tree →
- It'll be a miracle if my room is tidy by tonight! tree →
- Teachers can work miracles with tired children. tree →
- The cat's survival after the fall was a small miracle. tree →
- Is she not a miracle of beauty and grace? tree →
note
Countable. Adjective: miraculous; adverb: miraculously. Trap: "miracle cure" adverts often promise too much — be careful about such claims.
In the corpora
- Chloe holds her breath like it's a miracle.
- A miracle is an amazing event that Christians believe shows God's power at work beyond the ordinary.
- John's Gospel calls Jesus' miracles «signs», because they point to who Jesus is.
- Christians believe God can act in the world; sceptics doubt that miracles happen; some Christians read some miracle stories symbolically.
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «miracle» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.