flea

«flea» in Mova's school dictionary: A very small jumping insect without wings that lives on… — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 4 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

part of speech

noun (a flea, fleas)

meaning for a pupil

1) A very small jumping insect without wings that lives on the skin and fur of animals and people and sucks their blood. tree →

2) Flea market: a market where people sell old and second-hand things cheaply. tree →

sense in the lessons

In everyday life fleas are a problem for pet cats and dogs: they make them scratch, and pets need flea treatment. In science fleas are parasites — they live on another animal and harm it; they can jump many times their own length. In history, fleas on rats spread the plague (the Black Death). Phrases: flea collar, flea treatment, flea bite, flea market, a flea in your ear (a scolding, British).

examples

• Our dog kept scratching because it had fleas. tree →
• The vet gave the cat flea treatment. tree →
• A flea can jump more than a hundred times its own length. tree →
• We bought old comics at the flea market. tree →
• Flea bites leave small itchy red spots. tree →
• Fleas are parasites that drink blood. tree →
• Long ago, fleas on rats spread a deadly disease called the plague. tree →

note

Homophone trap: «flea» (insect) and «flee» (to run away from danger) sound the same: The fleas fled? No — people flee from fire; fleas live on dogs.

In the corpora

• Hooke's book Micrographia amazed readers with huge drawings of fleas and lice.
• A vet gives pets flea treatment, and people vacuum carpets and wash pet beds.
• An adult gives the flea and worm treatment the vet suggests, to keep pets and the family free of parasites.
• After whom is the king of Israel come out? after whom dost thou pursue? after a dead dog, after a flea.

Trees and pragmatics

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