doldrums

«doldrums» in Mova's school dictionary: A feeling of being sad, bored or stuck, with no energy… — 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 (the doldrums — plural in form, used with «the»)

meaning for a pupil

1) A feeling of being sad, bored or stuck, with no energy, as in «in the doldrums». tree →

2) A time when nothing is happening or growing, as in «the economy is in the doldrums». tree →

3) (geography) An area of sea near the equator where there is often very little wind, so sailing ships could be stuck for days. tree →

sense in the lessons

In geography lessons about winds and oceans, the doldrums are near the equator where the trade winds meet. In everyday life, «in the doldrums» means fed up or not doing well. In «The Phantom Tollbooth» the hero gets stuck in the Doldrums, a place where thinking is not allowed.

examples

• I was in the doldrums all week after my best friend moved away. tree →
• Sailing ships were stuck in the doldrums for days with no wind. tree →
• The team was in the doldrums after losing five matches. tree →
• The doldrums lie close to the equator. tree →
• Shops are in the doldrums in January after Christmas. tree →
• A sunny walk got me out of the doldrums. tree →

note

Always with «the». Used like a place: «in the doldrums», «out of the doldrums». Not usually counted.

In the corpora

• Near the equator lies a zone of weak, changing winds called the doldrums, where sailing ships could be stuck for days.

Trees and pragmatics

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