aphid

«aphid» in Mova's school dictionary: a very small insect, often green or black, that sucks the… — 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 aphid, aphids)

meaning for a pupil

1) An aphid is a very small insect, often green or black, that sucks the sap (juice) from plants. tree →

2) Aphids are also called greenfly or blackfly in the UK. tree →

sense in the lessons

In science lessons aphids are an example in food chains: they eat plant sap, and ladybirds (ladybugs), lacewings and birds eat aphids. Gardeners see them as pests because they weaken plants. Ants «farm» aphids for the sweet honeydew they make.

examples

• Aphids were sucking the sap from the roses. tree →
• Ladybirds eat lots of aphids. tree →
• Look under the leaf: it's covered in tiny green aphids. tree →
• Ants protect aphids to get their sweet honeydew. tree →
• Too many aphids can make a plant wilt. tree →
• The food chain: rose → aphid → ladybird → bird. tree →

note

Countable: an aphid, aphids. Pronounced «AY-fid». An aphid is an insect (six legs), not a bug from a computer. «Greenfly» are not flies; it is just a name.

In the corpora

• Ladybirds eat aphids, and one ladybird can eat thousands of aphids in its life.
• Some ants guard aphids from ladybirds and stroke them for sweet honeydew, and some keep aphid eggs in the nest over winter.
• Farmers have other helpers too: ladybirds that eat aphids and barn owls that hunt mice.
• Look at a rose stem covered in tiny green aphids sucking sweet sap.
• A baby aphid is born with its own baby already growing inside it.

Trees and pragmatics

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