blessing

«blessing» in Mova's school dictionary: a prayer asking God to protect and do good to someone or… — 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 (a blessing, blessings)

meaning for a pupil

1) (church) A blessing is a prayer asking God to protect and do good to someone or something, or God's favour itself; Christians believe blessings come from God. tree →

2) A blessing is something good that you are glad and thankful for. tree →

3) A blessing is permission or approval, as in «with my parents' blessing». tree →

4) A blessing in disguise is something that seems bad at first but turns out good. tree →

sense in the lessons

In church the priest gives a blessing at the end of the service; families say a blessing (grace) before meals; people say «count your blessings» to mean be thankful. In stories it tells the reader something good or approved has happened. Phrases: «count your blessings», «a mixed blessing», «a blessing in disguise», «give your blessing».

examples

• The priest gave a blessing at the end of the service. tree →
• We say a blessing before dinner. tree →
• Good friends are a real blessing. tree →
• Missing the bus was a blessing in disguise, because we met Grandma on the way. tree →
• She married him with her father's blessing. tree →
• Count your blessings: you have a home and people who love you. tree →
• A big dog in a small flat is a mixed blessing. tree →
• Some men underrate their best blessings. tree →

note

Countable: a blessing, blessings. From the verb «bless» (bless, blessed). «Bless you!» is said after a sneeze. A «mixed blessing» has good and bad sides. Christians believe God's blessing is a gift, not a reward to be bought.

In the corpora

• "A blessing in disguise" means a bad thing that may turn out to be good.
• Jacob tricked Esau out of his birthright and his father's blessing.
• A service usually has songs, prayers, Bible readings, a sermon, often communion, and a blessing at the end.
• And he said: 'Thy brother came with guile, and hath taken away thy blessing.'
• And Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing wherewith his father blessed him.

Trees and pragmatics

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