chemical

«chemical» in Mova's school dictionary: a substance, especially one made or used in science 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 chemical, chemicals); adjective (chemical); adverb chemically

meaning for a pupil

1) A chemical is a substance, especially one made or used in science or industry, such as bleach, salt or oxygen. tree →

2) Chemical as an adjective means to do with chemistry or with how substances change: a chemical reaction. tree →

sense in the lessons

In science everything is made of chemicals, including water and air; a chemical reaction makes new substances (burning, rusting, baking a cake). In safety lessons household chemicals like bleach, cleaners and weedkiller are dangerous: never mix them, drink them or keep them in drink bottles, and keep them out of reach of little children. Phrases: chemical reaction, household chemicals, harmful chemicals, chemical change.

examples

• Bleach is a strong chemical, so don't touch it. tree →
• Never mix cleaning chemicals; they can make poisonous gas. tree →
• Rust is caused by a chemical reaction between iron, water and air. tree →
• Water is a chemical made of hydrogen and oxygen. tree →
• Keep chemicals in their own bottles with labels. tree →
• Baking a cake causes chemical changes in the mixture. tree →
• The scientist wore goggles when she used the chemicals. tree →
• Some farmers spray chemicals on crops to kill pests. tree →
• Now, one day Edmund made a new lantern out of something chemical that he sneaked from the school laboratory. tree →

note

Countable as a noun: a chemical, chemicals. A «chemical change» makes something new and is often hard to undo; a «physical change» (like melting ice) does not make a new substance. Myth: «chemical» does not always mean harmful or unnatural; but unknown liquids should never be tasted or sniffed.

In the corpora

• Running and other exercise release chemicals in the brain that lift mood, and free weekly parkruns are open to all ages.
• The bombardier beetle mixes two chemicals in its body to make a spray of about 100 degrees that it shoots from its tail end.
• No real animal breathes fire; the bombardier beetle sprays a nearly boiling chemical mix from a tough chamber at attackers.
• When a dog and its owner look at each other, both get a rush of a bonding chemical in the brain.
• Chocolate is poisonous to dogs, because it contains a chemical that dogs cannot break down well.

Trees and pragmatics

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