amphibian

«amphibian» in Mova's school dictionary: cold-blooded, has moist skin, usually lays eggs in water… — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 5 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

part of speech

noun (an amphibian, amphibians); adjective (amphibian, amphibious — about vehicles)

meaning for a pupil

1) An animal with a backbone that is cold-blooded, has moist skin, usually lays eggs in water, and lives part of its life in water and part on land, like frogs, toads, newts and salamanders. tree →

2) A vehicle or plane that can travel on both land and water (amphibious vehicle). tree →

sense in the lessons

In science classification, amphibians are one of the five groups of vertebrates (with fish, reptiles, birds and mammals). Their life cycle is a famous example of metamorphosis: egg (frogspawn) → tadpole with gills → froglet → adult frog with lungs. Their skin must stay damp, and they are sensitive to pollution, so they show how healthy an environment is. Phrases: amphibian life cycle, amphibians and reptiles.

examples

• A frog is an amphibian. tree →
• Amphibians start life in water and can later live on land. tree →
• Tadpoles breathe with gills, but adult frogs breathe with lungs. tree →
• Newts and salamanders are amphibians too. tree →
• Amphibians have smooth, moist skin, not scales. tree →
• We found frogspawn in the pond — amphibian eggs! tree →
• Some frog skins are poisonous, so don't lick or touch your mouth after holding one. tree →

note

Common trap: amphibians are NOT reptiles. Reptiles (snakes, lizards, turtles) have dry, scaly skin and lay shelled eggs on land; amphibians have moist skin and lay jelly eggs in water. «Amphi-» means «both» — both water and land. Say «an amphibian».

In the corpora

• In the cold fast streams lives the biggest amphibian in the world, the Chinese giant salamander.
• Amphibians have smooth, moist skin and usually lay their eggs in water.
• Young amphibians usually live in water and breathe with gills; adults usually breathe with lungs and through their skin.
• Frogs, toads, newts and salamanders are amphibians; snakes, lizards, crocodiles and turtles are reptiles.
• Amphibian eggs have no shell, so they are laid in water or damp places.

Trees and pragmatics

Every meaning and example of «amphibian» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.