fat

«fat» in Mova's school dictionary: a natural oily substance found in foods like butter, oil… — 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

noun (fat, fats); adjective (fat, fatter, fattest)

meaning for a pupil

1) Fat is a natural oily substance found in foods like butter, oil, cheese and meat. tree →

2) Fat is also the soft layer under the skin of people and animals that stores energy and keeps them warm. tree →

3) Fat (adjective) means having a big, round body or a lot of fat. tree →

4) Fat can mean thick or wide: a fat book. tree →

sense in the lessons

In health lessons fat is one of the main nutrients (with carbohydrates and protein); the body needs some fat, but too much of some fats is unhealthy. In science animals like seals and polar bears have thick fat (blubber) to stay warm. In lessons about kindness, calling someone fat is hurtful: people come in all shapes and sizes. In stories «fat» can describe animals or things: a fat cat, a fat raindrop. Phrases: low-fat, full-fat, body fat, fat chance (informal: no chance).

examples

• Butter and oil contain a lot of fat. tree →
• Seals have a thick layer of fat to keep warm. tree →
• Our cat is getting fat because he eats too much. tree →
• It's unkind to call someone fat. tree →
• She read a big, fat book about dragons. tree →
• We buy low-fat milk. tree →
• The body needs a little fat to stay healthy. tree →
• A fat raindrop landed on my nose. tree →
• They were very fat and round. tree →

note

As a food substance «fat» is usually uncountable (some fat), but «fats» means kinds of fat. Comparison: fatter, fattest (double the «t»). Comments about other people's bodies can be hurtful; a kinder word in medicine is «overweight», and it is better not to comment at all.

In the corpora

• Brown bears, including grizzlies, catch salmon at waterfalls in autumn to build up fat before winter.
• Penguins also keep warm with a thick layer of fat and tightly packed waterproof feathers.
• A camel's hump stores fat, not water; when food is short the camel uses the fat and the hump goes floppy.
• Even a fat, sleepy pet cat is a hunter inside.
• On a cold spring morning a fat furry bumblebee queen is often the first bee out.

Trees and pragmatics

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