fragile

«fragile» in Mova's school dictionary: easily broken or damaged — 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

adjective (fragile, more fragile, most fragile)

meaning for a pupil

1) Fragile means easily broken or damaged. tree →

2) Fragile can describe a person who is weak, ill or easily upset. tree →

3) Something fragile, like peace or nature, can easily be harmed. tree →

sense in the lessons

In everyday life parcels marked «Fragile» must be handled gently: glass, eggs, china. In science fragile ecosystems such as coral reefs are easily harmed by pollution. In stories a fragile old lady or a fragile butterfly wing. Phrases: fragile glass, handle with care, fragile environment.

examples

• Be careful, the vase is fragile. tree →
• The box said «Fragile — handle with care». tree →
• Eggs are fragile. tree →
• A butterfly's wings are very fragile. tree →
• Coral reefs are fragile places. tree →
• Grandma felt fragile after her illness. tree →
• The ice on the pond is too fragile to walk on. tree →
• The elder brothers carried in baskets two such tiny, fragile dogs that they hardly dared to touch them. tree →

note

Pronounced FRAJ-ile (UK, with «-ile» like «aisle») or FRAJ-ul (US). Opposite: strong, sturdy, tough. Noun: fragility. Safety: thin ice is fragile — never walk on frozen ponds.

In the corpora

• Dried tardigrades survive great cold, high pressure and radiation, but they are not immortal, and active tardigrades are quite fragile.
• In a museum you do not touch exhibits unless signs say you can, because they can be old and fragile.
• In a museum or gallery, do not touch exhibits unless signs say you can, because they can be old and fragile.
• Museum objects can be old and fragile, and touching them can break them forever.

Trees and pragmatics

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