christmas
part of speech
noun (Christmas, Christmases); proper noun, always with a capital C
meaning for a pupil
1) Christmas is the Christian festival in December that celebrates the birth of Jesus. tree →
2) Christmas is also the holiday season around it, with presents, decorations and family meals. tree →
sense in the lessons
In everyday life in the USA, UK, Canada, Ireland, Australia and NZ, Christmas is a big public holiday: Christmas trees, Santa Claus (Father Christmas), stockings, carols, crackers; in Australia and NZ it is in summer, so families may have a barbecue or go to the beach. In school, there are nativity plays and holiday concerts; not everyone celebrates it, and other festivals like Hanukkah and Diwali happen around then too. Phrases: Merry Christmas, Happy Christmas, Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, at Christmas.
examples
- We put up the Christmas tree. tree →
- Merry Christmas, everyone! tree →
- In Australia, Christmas is in summer. tree →
- I hung my stocking on Christmas Eve. tree →
- We pulled Christmas crackers at dinner. tree →
- Santa brings presents at Christmas. tree →
- Not everyone celebrates Christmas. tree →
- Our school had a Christmas concert. tree →
- Oh! when will Christmas be here? tree →
note
Always a capital C. The t is silent: KRIS-mus. Short form: Xmas. Say «at Christmas» (the season) and «on Christmas Day» (the day). Father Christmas (UK) = Santa Claus.
In the corpora
- Many people are paid early in December, before Christmas, so January feels very long with the money already spent.
- In Cork, twenty-three people squeeze into Gran's house for Christmas.
- Scene: at Christmas dinner in Leeds, Grandad and Auntie Jo argue about the government until the gravy goes cold.
- Vivid example: at Christmas in Dublin, Auntie Siobhan hands Mum a lumpy orange jumper.
- A pet is for life: a puppy given as a Christmas present grows up and needs many years of care.
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «christmas» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.