divvy
part of speech
verb (divvy up, divvies, divvied, divvying — informal); noun (a divvy, divvies — UK slang); noun (divvy — informal, share)
meaning for a pupil
1) (informal) To divvy up something is to share it out between people. tree →
2) (UK slang) A divvy is a silly or foolish person; it is a mild insult. tree →
3) (informal, older) A divvy is a share or dividend, a part of the money that people get. tree →
sense in the lessons
In everyday talk and stories about sharing sweets, money or jobs; in maths it is the idea of division and fair shares. As an insult it is playground language in the UK, mild but not kind. Phrases: divvy up, divvy out, you divvy.
examples
- Let's divvy up the sweets so everyone gets five. tree →
- We divvied the chores between the three of us. tree →
- (UK slang) Don't be a divvy, you've got your shoes on the wrong feet! tree →
- They divvied out the pizza slices. tree →
- The pirates divvied up the treasure. tree →
- (UK slang) My brother called me a divvy for forgetting my bag. tree →
note
Informal; in school writing use «share out» or «divide». Comes from divide/dividend. «Divvy up 12 sweets between 4» means 12 ÷ 4 = 3 each. Calling someone a divvy can hurt feelings even if it sounds funny.
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «divvy» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.