dim

«dim» in Mova's school dictionary: not bright — 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

adjective (dim, dimmer, dimmest); verb (dim, dims, dimmed, dimming)

meaning for a pupil

1) Dim means not bright. A dim light gives only a little light. tree →

2) To dim is to make or become less bright. tree →

3) Dim can mean hard to see or remember. tree →

4) In everyday talk, dim can mean not clever (this can be rude). tree →

5) Dim can also be a short way of writing "diminutive", a word form that means small. tree →

sense in the lessons

maths: a story word about light, or short for dimension in some texts; no clue about the quantities; science: light, how a bulb dims with less power, dim stars far away; everyday life: dim the lights for a film; safety: wear bright clothes when it is dim outside

examples

• The room was dim. tree →
• She dimmed the lights for the film. tree →
• A dim lamp uses less power. tree →
• The dim star was hard to see. tree →
• The light grew dim at dusk. tree →
• Wear something bright on dim evenings. tree →
• I have a dim memory of my first birthday. tree →
• All the streets and lanes of Paris were to be seen here again, as in a dim reflection. tree →

note

No clue about the quantities. Trap: none. Double the m: dimmed, dimmer.

In the corpora

• Big fruit bats called flying foxes have large eyes for dim light, and most of them do not echolocate at all.
• "A bit dim" means rather stupid; it is everyday British English and sounds softer than "stupid".
• Reading in dim light can make your eyes tired, but it does not damage them for good.
• Owls and cats see very well in dim light, but no eye can see anything in total darkness.
• Reading in dim light can make eyes tired but doesn't ruin eyesight.

Trees and pragmatics

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