hoax

«hoax» in Mova's school dictionary: a trick that makes many people believe something that is… — 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

noun (a hoax, hoaxes); verb (hoax, hoaxes, hoaxed, hoaxing)

meaning for a pupil

1) A hoax is a trick that makes many people believe something that is not true, such as a fake story, picture or warning. tree →

2) To hoax people means to trick them in this way. tree →

sense in the lessons

In everyday life and safety hoaxes spread online (fake news, fake warnings, chain messages); pupils learn to check sources before believing or sharing. A hoax call to the emergency services is a crime because it wastes help that others need. In stories a hoax can be a prank or a mystery to solve. Phrases: «a hoax call», «a hoax email», «it turned out to be a hoax».

examples

• The photo of the giant shark turned out to be a hoax. tree →
• Making a hoax call to 999 or 911 is against the law. tree →
• The message saying the school would close was a hoax. tree →
• Before you share a story online, check it is not a hoax. tree →
• The crop circles were a hoax made by two men with planks. tree →
• They hoaxed the whole town with a fake monster sighting. tree →
• The detective soon realised the ransom note was a hoax. tree →
• April Fools' Day hoaxes are meant to be funny, not harmful. tree →
• He did this more than once, and every time the villagers found they had been hoaxed, for there was no Wolf at all. tree →

note

Plural «hoaxes». A hoax is bigger than a simple lie: it is planned to fool many people. Related: «prank» (a playful trick), «scam» (a trick to take money). A «hoaxer» is the person who makes one.

In the corpora

• Death hoaxes about famous people spread fast because they are shocking; check a proper news site before believing or sharing one.
• Such viral scares are usually hoaxes.
• Viral scary-character and «challenge» rumours are usually hoaxes, and an adult can check if there is real danger.
• Wait for trusted news before believing or sharing that a famous person has died; celebrity death hoaxes are common.
• Hoax 999 calls take time away from real emergencies and can lead to trouble with the police.

Trees and pragmatics

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