ammonite
part of speech
noun (an ammonite, ammonites)
meaning for a pupil
1) An ammonite is an extinct sea animal with a coiled shell, related to today's octopus, squid and nautilus. tree →
2) An ammonite is also the fossil of this animal, often found in rocks as a stone spiral. tree →
sense in the lessons
In science lessons on fossils and rocks, ammonites are among the commonest fossils, found on beaches such as the Jurassic Coast in Dorset and Whitby in Yorkshire, where Mary Anning collected them. They lived in the seas in the time of the dinosaurs and died out at the same time. Their spiral shell is also used in maths lessons to look at spirals. Phrases: «ammonite fossil», «fossil hunting», «coiled ammonite».
examples
- We found an ammonite fossil on the beach. tree →
- An ammonite has a shell shaped like a spiral. tree →
- Ammonites died out at the same time as the dinosaurs. tree →
- Mary Anning collected ammonites at Lyme Regis. tree →
- The museum has an ammonite as big as a car tyre. tree →
- Ammonites were related to squid and octopuses. tree →
note
Use «an»: «an ammonite». Plural «ammonites». In the Bible, «Ammonites» (capital A) were an ancient people living east of the River Jordan — a different meaning.
In the corpora
- In Whitby in England, people once carved snake heads on ammonites and sold them as snakes turned to stone.
- Ammonites were sea creatures with coiled shells, related to squid, and are very common fossils.
- That also is accounted a land of Rephaim: Rephaim dwelt therein aforetime; but the Ammonites call them Zamzummim,
- Zelek the Ammonite, Naharai the Beerothite, armour-bearer to Joab the son of Zeruiah;
- For Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Zidonians, and after Milcom the detestation of the Ammonites.
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «ammonite» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.