fuss

«fuss» in Mova's school dictionary: a lot of worry, excitement or complaining about… — 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 fuss — usually singular; fuss — uncountable); verb (fuss, fusses, fussed, fussing)

meaning for a pupil

1) A fuss is a lot of worry, excitement or complaining about something, often something small. tree →

2) To fuss means to worry or pay too much attention to small things. tree →

3) To make a fuss of someone means to give them lots of loving attention. tree →

sense in the lessons

In everyday life children are told «don't make a fuss» about small things, and grandparents «make a fuss of» visitors. In stories a fuss shows someone being upset or over-careful. Phrases: «make a fuss», «kick up a fuss», «make a fuss of someone», «what's all the fuss about?», «fuss over», «no fuss».

examples

• Don't make a fuss — it's only a small scratch. tree →
• What's all the fuss about? tree →
• Grandma always makes a fuss of us when we visit. tree →
• He kicked up a fuss when his game was turned off. tree →
• Stop fussing with your hair! tree →
• Dad fussed over the dinner all afternoon. tree →
• She did her homework without any fuss. tree →
• The dog loves a fuss behind the ears. tree →

note

Plural rarely used (fusses). Verb: fussed, fussing. Adjective: fussy (picky): «a fussy eater». «Make a fuss» (complain) is not the same as «make a fuss of» (pamper someone).

In the corpora

• Employers often glance at a CV for less than a minute, so grown-ups fuss over every word.
• When your parent says it is time to go, you finish quickly, say goodbye and go without a fuss.
• «Me mam said you can have it, it's too small for us.» No fuss, no audience.
• Being patient means waiting calmly without fussing; it is not an amount of time.

Trees and pragmatics

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