alien
part of speech
noun (an alien, aliens); adjective (alien)
meaning for a pupil
1) A creature from another planet, in stories and films. tree →
2) (adjective) Strange and very different from what you know. tree →
3) (formal, law) A person who lives in a country but is not a citizen of it. tree →
4) (science) An alien species is a plant or animal brought to a place where it does not naturally live. tree →
sense in the lessons
In stories and science fiction: aliens land on Earth. In science: alien or invasive species harm local wildlife. In everyday life: the city felt alien to her. Phrases: alien to, an alien world, alien species, illegal alien (offensive to many; prefer "undocumented person").
examples
- In the film, aliens came down in a spaceship. tree →
- Scientists look for alien life on other planets. tree →
- The big city felt alien to the boy from the farm. tree →
- Rabbits are an alien species in Australia. tree →
- Cheating is alien to her nature. tree →
- The alien had three eyes and green skin. tree →
note
"An alien" (vowel sound). The legal sense can sound unkind when used about people; many prefer "foreign national" or "immigrant". No real aliens have been found — they are in stories so far. Verb: alienate (make someone feel left out).
In the corpora
- SETI scientists listen with radio telescopes for signals from intelligent life, but no confirmed alien signal has ever been found.
- And the LORD said unto Moses and Aaron: 'This is the ordinance of the passover: there shall no alien eat thereof;
- And strangers shall stand and feed your flocks, and aliens shall be your plowmen and your vinedressers.
- I am become a stranger unto my brethren, and an alien unto my mother's children.
- To deliver thee from the strange woman, even from the alien woman that maketh smooth her words;
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «alien» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.