earwax

«earwax» in Mova's school dictionary: the soft yellow or brown waxy stuff that the body makes… — 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 (earwax; uncountable)

meaning for a pupil

1) Earwax is the soft yellow or brown waxy stuff that the body makes inside the ear canal. tree →

2) It protects the ear by catching dust and germs and keeping the skin from drying out. tree →

sense in the lessons

In science and health lessons, earwax is a natural part of the body that cleans itself; doctors say not to push cotton buds (cotton swabs, Q-tips) into ears, as this can push wax deeper and hurt the eardrum. In funny stories, earwax is a «yucky» detail. Phrases: «build-up of earwax», «ear drops».

examples

• Earwax helps keep dirt out of your ears. tree →
• Never poke cotton buds into your ear to remove earwax. tree →
• The doctor put drops in my ear to soften the earwax. tree →
• Earwax can be yellow, orange or brown. tree →
• Too much earwax can make it hard to hear. tree →
• In the story, the troll had earwax as thick as butter. tree →

note

Uncountable: «some earwax», not «an earwax». Written as one word (also «ear wax»). The body moves earwax out by itself, so most people do not need to clean inside the ear.

In the corpora

• Earwax cleans and protects the ear and usually moves out by itself; cotton buds push it deeper.

Trees and pragmatics

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