cyclops
part of speech
noun (a Cyclops, Cyclopes or Cyclopses; also cyclops, cyclopes)
meaning for a pupil
1) (myth) A Cyclops is a giant with only one eye in the middle of its forehead, from ancient Greek myths; the most famous is Polyphemus, who trapped Odysseus (Ulysses) in his cave. tree →
2) (science) Cyclops: a tiny freshwater animal (a copepod, a kind of crustacean) with one eye spot, found in ponds. tree →
3) (a name) A character name in comics and films, such as the X-Men hero who shoots beams from his eyes. tree →
sense in the lessons
In classic myths and stories, Odysseus escapes the Cyclops by blinding him and telling him his name is «Nobody», so when the Cyclops shouts «Nobody is hurting me!», no one comes to help. In pond-dipping in science, pupils may spot a cyclops under a microscope or magnifying glass. Phrases: «the Cyclops Polyphemus», «one-eyed Cyclops».
examples
- The Cyclops had one huge eye in the middle of his forehead. tree →
- Odysseus tricked the Cyclops by saying his name was «Nobody». tree →
- In Greek myths, the Cyclopes made thunderbolts for Zeus. tree →
- We saw a tiny cyclops wriggling in the pond water under the microscope. tree →
- My little brother dressed up as a Cyclops for Halloween. tree →
- The Cyclops rolled a giant stone across the cave door. tree →
- The chief representative of the Cyclops was the man-eating monster Polyphemus, described by Homer as having been blinded and outwitted at last by Odysseus. tree →
note
Said «SY-klops». Plural: Cyclopes (Greek, said «sy-KLOH-peez») or Cyclopses; in everyday English people sometimes wrongly use «cyclops» as plural. Usually a capital C for the myth. The name means «round eye» in Greek. It is a creature of myth, not a real animal; a myth (not proved) says fossils of dwarf elephant skulls, with one big nasal hole, made the Greeks imagine Cyclopes.
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «cyclops» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.