adult
part of speech
noun (adult, adults); adjective (adult)
meaning for a pupil
1) An adult is a grown-up person, not a child. In many countries you are an adult from 18 years old. tree →
2) An adult animal or plant is one that is fully grown. tree →
3) Adult means for grown-ups, or acting in a sensible grown-up way. tree →
4) (casual) «Grown-up», «big people» (to small children) and «oldies» are everyday words for adults; «adulting» (slang) means doing boring grown-up jobs like paying bills. tree →
5) (euphemism) «Adult content» or «for adults only» means not for children; a pupil should leave it and tell a trusted adult. tree →
6) (formal) «Person of full age», «a person aged 18 or over», «guardian» and «responsible adult» are stiff official words. tree →
sense in the lessons
people counted apart from children; adult tickets cost more; in everyday life and safety: ask a trusted adult for help, an adult must be with you near water or roads; in science: a tadpole grows into an adult frog, a life cycle ends in an adult that lays eggs; in casual talk: «grown-ups», «adulting»; in the exam voice: «persons aged 18 years or over», «accompanied by a responsible adult»; phrases: «a trusted adult», «adult ticket», «young adult», «adults only»
examples
- An adult ticket costs $10 and a child ticket $5. tree →
- 12 adults and 20 children came. tree →
- How much did 3 adult tickets cost? tree →
- Each group has 1 adult. tree →
- If you feel unsafe, tell a trusted adult. tree →
- An adult must be with you at the swimming pool. tree →
- The caterpillar becomes an adult butterfly. tree →
- She was very adult about losing the game. tree →
- 2 grown-ups + 3 kids, adults are 10 bucks, kids 5, how much (casual) tree →
- ugh, adulting is hard, paid 3 bills today (casual, slang) tree →
- Act like an adult for once, you're 14, not 4. (rough) tree →
- Persons aged 18 years or over are charged 10 dollars; compute the total charge for 3 such persons and 4 minors at 5 dollars. (formal exam) tree →
- “There were several adults to-day,” he assured her with a faint flush; but when she tossed her head he had not a word of reproof for her. tree →
note
Two prices: adults × adult price + children × child price. «An adult» (an before a vowel). Opposite: child, young; formal «minor» = a child under 18. Safety: a trusted adult is someone like a parent, teacher or carer; an adult who asks you to keep a secret from your parents is not safe. Trap: «adult» in science means fully grown, not 18 years old. Formal «persons aged 18 or over» = adults.
In the corpora
- Most adults have some, like a mortgage or a car loan, and planned debt can be fine.
- Many adults take a tablet every day to keep a long-term condition, like high blood pressure, under control.
- Families make phone rules so meals are for talking, and adults find them hard to keep because phones are built to grab attention.
- Staying up too late makes adults tired the next day, and children's sleep matters even more for growing and learning.
- An election is when adults vote to choose their leaders and representatives; candidates send leaflets to explain their promises.
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «adult» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.