clown

«clown» in Mova's school dictionary: a performer in a circus or at a party who wears funny… — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 1 sentence of Mova's corpora that use it.

part of speech

noun (a clown, clowns); verb (clown, clowns, clowned, clowning — usually «clown around»)

meaning for a pupil

1) A clown is a performer in a circus or at a party who wears funny clothes, big shoes and face paint and does silly things to make people laugh. tree →

2) (informal) A clown is a person who often acts silly or makes jokes, like the class clown. tree →

3) (rude) Calling someone a clown can be an insult meaning they are stupid or useless. tree →

4) (verb) To clown or clown around is to behave in a silly way to make people laugh. tree →

sense in the lessons

In stories clowns appear at circuses and birthday parties; «the class clown» is the child who makes everyone laugh, sometimes getting into trouble. As an insult it shows anger at someone's foolishness. Phrases: clown around, class clown, clown fish, act the clown.

examples

• The clown had a red nose and enormous floppy shoes. tree →
• We hired a clown for my little brother's birthday party. tree →
• Jake is the class clown and always makes us giggle. tree →
• Stop clowning around and finish your work! tree →
• That driver cut in front of us — what a clown! tree →
• Some children are scared of clowns. tree →
• Three clowns climbed out of one tiny car. tree →
• The clown juggled four balls and dropped every one. tree →

note

Countable: a clown, clowns. Verb past: clowned. «Clown fish» (or clownfish) is a small orange-and-white fish, not a person. As an insult it is rude; do not use it about classmates. Maths problems may count clowns or balloons: «Each clown has 5 balloons» means multiply.

In the corpora

• Many scary internet stories, such as «killer clown» rumours, are made up to frighten people.

Trees and pragmatics

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