dung
part of speech
noun (dung — uncountable)
meaning for a pupil
1) Dung is the solid waste, or poo, of animals, especially large animals like cows, horses and elephants. tree →
2) Dung is used on farms as manure to help plants grow, and in some places it is dried and burned as fuel. tree →
sense in the lessons
In science lessons dung comes up in food chains and decomposition: dung beetles roll balls of dung, bury it and lay eggs in it, which recycles nutrients back into the soil. In history and geography lessons pupils learn that dried dung is burned for cooking and heating where there is little wood. Phrases: «dung beetle», «cow dung», «dung heap». It is a polite, scientific word, not a rude one.
examples
- The dung beetle rolled a ball of dung across the sand. tree →
- Farmers spread cow dung on the fields to help crops grow. tree →
- Elephant dung is full of seeds. tree →
- In some villages dried dung is used as fuel. tree →
- The smell of horse dung filled the stable. tree →
- Scientists study dung to find out what animals eat. tree →
- Watch out for the cow dung in the field! tree →
- "Perhaps you came from a dung-heap," observed the oldest of them. tree →
note
Uncountable: «some dung», «a pile of dung», not «a dung». It is a polite word for animal waste; «poo» is the everyday word, «manure» means dung used on fields. Never touch animal dung with bare hands — wash your hands after farm visits.
In the corpora
- Many zoos turn elephant dung into compost for gardens, and in some countries it is even made into paper.
- A dung beetle rolls dung balls to feed its young, steering by the Milky Way.
- děng yíxià («DUNG ee-SHYAH») means wait a moment.
- Trace fossils record what animals did, such as footprints, burrows and even fossil dung.
- And I will cast detestable things upon thee, and make thee vile, and will make thee as dung.
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «dung» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.