gross

«gross» in Mova's school dictionary: disgusting, very unpleasant: «Ew, that's gross!» — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 5 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

part of speech

adjective (gross, grosser, grossest); noun (gross — a dozen dozens; gross earnings); verb (gross, grosses, grossed — to earn in total)

meaning for a pupil

1) (informal) Gross means disgusting, very unpleasant: «Ew, that's gross!» tree →

2) Gross means total, before anything is taken away: gross weight, gross pay. tree →

3) A gross is 144, which is twelve dozen. tree →

4) (formal) Gross means very bad and obvious: a gross mistake. tree →

5) (verb) To gross is to earn a total amount of money. tree →

6) Long ago, gross could mean coarse, common or low-born, rather than fine or delicate. tree →

sense in the lessons

In maths: gross weight = goods + packaging; net weight = goods only. Gross pay is pay before tax; net pay is after. A gross is 12 × 12 = 144. In everyday talk children say «gross!» about slimy, smelly things. In formal language «gross misconduct» means very bad behaviour.

examples

• Ew, there's a slug in my shoe — gross! tree →
• The gross weight of the box is 5 kg and the box itself is 1 kg. tree →
• His gross pay is £300, but he takes home less after tax. tree →
• A gross is twelve dozen, which is 144. tree →
• (formal) It was a gross error to leave the gate open. tree →
• The film grossed millions at the cinema. tree →
• Picking your nose is gross. tree →

note

Opposite of «gross» in money and weight is «net». In maths: net = gross − deductions; net weight = gross weight − packaging; 1 gross = 144. The «disgusting» sense is informal and common in North America, Australia and the UK.

In the corpora

• Friends sometimes dare or push you to do something gross, unsafe or against the rules.
• Tricking someone smaller into doing something gross or risky is using their trust.
• Tricking a younger child into eating something gross or doing something risky is using their trust.
• Gross or upsetting videos in a chat should be shown to a grown-up; you don't have to keep watching.
• Everyone picks their nose or dribbles in their sleep sometimes; these are normal body things, not proof that someone is gross.

Trees and pragmatics

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