cicada
part of speech
noun (a cicada, cicadas)
meaning for a pupil
1) A cicada is a large insect with clear wings and big eyes that lives in warm places; male cicadas make a very loud buzzing or clicking song in summer. tree →
2) Young cicadas (nymphs) live underground for years, then climb out, shed their skin and become adults. tree →
sense in the lessons
In science lessons cicadas show life cycles and metamorphosis: they leave empty skins on trees. Some North American cicadas (periodical cicadas) come out all together every 13 or 17 years — both prime numbers. In Australia, children collect cicadas with names like Green Grocer and Black Prince. Phrases: cicada song, cicada shell, periodical cicadas.
examples
- The cicadas sang loudly all through the hot afternoon. tree →
- We found an empty cicada shell stuck to the tree. tree →
- Periodical cicadas come out every 17 years in some parts of the USA. tree →
- Male cicadas make sound with drum-like parts on their bodies. tree →
- In Australia, the Green Grocer cicada is bright green. tree →
- Cicadas suck sap from trees. tree →
- The cicada nymph lived underground for years. tree →
note
Pronounced si-KAH-duh (UK) or si-KAY-duh (US). Plural cicadas. Myth: cicadas are not locusts (locusts are a kind of grasshopper). In maths, 13 and 17 are prime numbers, which helps the cicadas avoid predators with shorter cycles.
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «cicada» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.