cannon
part of speech
noun (a cannon, cannon or cannons); verb (cannon, cannons, cannoned, cannoning — rare)
meaning for a pupil
1) A cannon is a big, heavy gun, usually on wheels or on a ship, that fires large metal balls or shells. tree →
2) To cannon into someone is to crash into them hard while moving fast. tree →
3) A water cannon is a machine that sprays very strong jets of water. tree →
sense in the lessons
In history lessons, cannons appear in castles, sieges, pirate ships and old battles; pupils learn that cannons made castle walls less safe. In science, a cannon firing a ball is an example of forces and motion. In stories, «a loose cannon» is a person nobody can control. In everyday talk, children «cannon into» each other in the corridor. Phrases: «fire a cannon», «cannonball», «loose cannon», «water cannon», «cannon into».
examples
- The pirates fired their cannons at the ship. tree →
- A cannonball smashed through the castle wall. tree →
- The cannon on the hill fires once a day for the tourists. tree →
- He cannoned into me in the corridor and we both fell over. tree →
- He is a loose cannon; you never know what he will say. tree →
- Firefighters used a water cannon on the burning barn. tree →
- The soldiers fired off cannons, and the boys let off crackers. tree →
note
Plural: «cannons» or «cannon» (both correct). Homophone trap: «cannon» (gun) and «canon» (a church rule, a list of important books, a priest; also a round in music) sound the same. «Cannonball» is one word; «doing a cannonball» is jumping into a pool with knees hugged.
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «cannon» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.