germ
part of speech
noun (germ, germs)
meaning for a pupil
1) A very tiny living thing, too small to see, that can make people or animals ill. tree →
2) The very beginning of something that grows: "the germ of an idea". tree →
3) The part of a seed that grows into a plant (wheat germ). tree →
sense in the lessons
In science and health, germs (bacteria and viruses) spread through coughs, sneezes, dirty hands and food; our body fights them; vaccines help. In everyday life: wash hands with soap for 20 seconds, cover coughs, don't share drinks when ill. Phrases: spread germs, kill germs, germ-free.
examples
- Wash your hands to get rid of germs. tree →
- Germs are too small to see. tree →
- Sneeze into your elbow so germs don't spread. tree →
- Some germs make you sick. tree →
- Soap kills many germs. tree →
- Germs can live on door handles. tree →
- Cook meat well to kill germs. tree →
- That was the germ of a great idea. tree →
- "Why, it's a mass of scarlet fever germs!-Burn it at once. tree →
note
Germs can't be seen without a microscope. Not all tiny living things are harmful; some bacteria help us. Antibiotics work on bacteria, not on viruses like a cold.
In the corpora
- Some people go to work ill because they can't afford to lose the pay, which spreads germs to everyone else.
- Red blood cells carry oxygen using iron-rich haemoglobin, white cells fight germs, and platelets help stop bleeding.
- The nose warms and moistens air, and its hairs and sticky mucus catch dust and germs before they reach the lungs.
- People once thought germs in the Komodo dragon's mouth killed its prey, but scientists found it has venom glands in its jaw.
- Honey hardly ever goes off, because it is so sugary and dry that germs cannot grow in it.
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «germ» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.