brightness
part of speech
noun (brightness — uncountable)
meaning for a pupil
1) How much light something gives off or reflects; a bright lamp has high brightness. tree →
2) How strong and clear a colour is. tree →
3) A cheerful, lively quality in a person's face, voice or mood. tree →
4) The setting on a screen that makes it lighter or darker. tree →
sense in the lessons
In science it is about light: the Sun's brightness, the brightness of stars, how a bulb's brightness changes in a circuit. In everyday life it is the screen setting on a phone or tablet. In stories it describes sunshine, colours or a happy face. Phrases: «turn down the brightness», «the brightness of the sun», «full brightness».
examples
- The brightness of the sun hurt my eyes. tree →
- Turn the brightness down on your tablet before bed. tree →
- We tested how the brightness of the bulb changed with two batteries. tree →
- Some stars have a greater brightness than others. tree →
- The brightness of the paint made the classroom cheerful. tree →
- Her smile had a brightness that made everyone feel welcome. tree →
- Never look straight at the sun, whatever its brightness. tree →
- The candles were now lighted--what brightness! tree →
note
Uncountable: say «the brightness», not «a brightness» (except in stories: «a brightness in her eyes»). Made from «bright» + «-ness». A star's brightness in the sky does not tell you its real size; it may just be closer.
In the corpora
- Leo built a secret den under his duvet: tablet, brightness turned down, sound off, one eye on the door.
- At the brightness before Him coals of fire flamed forth.
- And nations shall walk at thy light, and kings at the brightness of thy rising.
- Even very dark, and no brightness in it?
- And a brightness appeareth as the light; rays hath He at His side; and there is the hiding of His power.
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «brightness» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.