countdown

«countdown» in Mova's school dictionary: counting backwards to zero, usually before something… — 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 countdown, countdowns)

meaning for a pupil

1) A countdown is counting backwards to zero, usually before something starts, like a rocket launch. tree →

2) A countdown is the time just before an important event. tree →

sense in the lessons

In science and space lessons, rockets launch after a countdown: 10, 9, 8 ... 1, lift-off! In maths, counting down practises subtraction and number order. In everyday life there are countdowns to New Year, holidays and birthdays. Phrases: the countdown begins, countdown to, a countdown clock.

examples

• The countdown began: ten, nine, eight ... tree →
• After the countdown, the rocket blasted off. tree →
• We did a countdown to the New Year. tree →
• The countdown to the holidays has started! tree →
• A countdown clock showed how many minutes were left. tree →
• Count down from 20 in twos: 20, 18, 16 ... tree →
• The class shouted the countdown together. tree →

note

Countable noun, one word: countdown. The verb is two words: count down (We counted down from ten). In maths, a countdown means each number is one less (or a step less) than the one before.

In the corpora

• «Hurry, only today!» and countdowns rush you so you do not think clearly; real bargains rarely vanish in minutes.
• Countdown timers on offers are there to rush you, so you buy before you think.
• Countdown timers on offers make you rush; many "limited-time" offers come back again and again.
• A countdown timer counts down to zero and then beeps, so you do not have to guess.
• BC years count down towards the start like a rocket countdown, and AD years count up.

Trees and pragmatics

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