abracadabra
part of speech
interjection (abracadabra); noun (abracadabra — nonsense talk)
meaning for a pupil
1) Abracadabra is a magic word said by magicians when they do a trick, as if it makes the magic happen. tree →
2) (informal) Abracadabra also means words that sound clever or mysterious but make no sense. tree →
sense in the lessons
In stories, shows and children's magic tricks, «Abracadabra!» is said with a wave of a wand before a rabbit comes out of a hat. In history, it was once written on charms in ancient Rome to protect against illness; it is a very old word. In everyday life, «it's all abracadabra to me» means I don't understand it. Phrases: «say abracadabra».
examples
- «Abracadabra!» said the magician, and the coin vanished. tree →
- My little sister waved her wand and shouted «Abracadabra!» tree →
- At the party the magician pulled a rabbit from his hat after saying abracadabra. tree →
- Long ago, people wrote abracadabra on charms to keep sickness away. tree →
- The instructions were pure abracadabra to Grandad. tree →
- Saying abracadabra didn't make my homework disappear! tree →
note
Not a real spell: magic tricks work by skill and clever hiding, not by words. Say «ab-ra-ka-DAB-ra». Nobody is sure where the word comes from.
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «abracadabra» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.