formation

«formation» in Mova's school dictionary: the way something is made or forms over time — 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 (a formation, formations; formation — uncountable)

meaning for a pupil

1) Formation is the way something is made or forms over time. tree →

2) A formation is a pattern or shape that people, planes, birds or players are arranged in. tree →

3) A rock formation is a natural shape or group of rocks. tree →

4) (formal) The formation of a club or group is when it is set up. tree →

sense in the lessons

In science, pupils learn about the formation of clouds, rocks, ice and caves. In PE and sport, teams line up in a formation such as 4-4-2. Geese fly in a V formation; aircraft fly in formation at air shows. Phrases: in formation, rock formation, cloud formation, the formation of.

examples

• We learned about the formation of rain clouds. tree →
• The geese flew south in a V formation. tree →
• The team played in a 4-4-2 formation. tree →
• The cave has amazing rock formations. tree →
• The planes flew in formation over the crowd. tree →
• Stalactites take a very long time in their formation. tree →
• The pupils stood in a formation of 5 rows of 6, so there were 30 of them. tree →
• The formation of the school council was announced in assembly. (formal) tree →

note

Can be countable (a formation, two formations) or uncountable (the process of forming). The verb is «form». In maths, «a formation of r rows and c columns» means r × c people.

In the corpora

• In the testudo, or tortoise formation, soldiers locked their shields above and around them to protect against arrows.

Trees and pragmatics

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