insulate

«insulate» in Mova's school dictionary: To cover something with a material that stops heat, cold… — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 1 sentence of Mova's corpora that use it.

part of speech

verb (insulate, insulates, insulated, insulating)

meaning for a pupil

1) To cover something with a material that stops heat, cold or sound from passing through easily. tree →

2) To cover wires with a material that stops electricity from passing out, to keep people safe. tree →

3) To protect someone from something unpleasant. tree →

sense in the lessons

In science, insulators are materials that do not let heat or electricity pass easily: plastic and rubber insulate wires, wool and feathers insulate animals and people, foam insulates houses and lunch boxes. Experiments test which material keeps a cup of hot water warm longest. In safety, never touch a wire whose insulation is damaged. Phrases: «insulate a house», «insulated cup», «insulate from».

examples

• We insulate the loft so the house stays warm. tree →
• Plastic insulates the wires so you don't get a shock. tree →
• Thick fur insulates polar bears from the cold. tree →
• Which material insulates the hot water best? tree →
• An insulated flask keeps soup hot for hours. tree →
• Wool socks insulate your feet in winter. tree →
• Air trapped between layers helps to insulate. tree →
• Never touch a cable if the plastic around it is broken. tree →

note

Noun: «insulation»; a material that insulates is an «insulator»; the opposite is a «conductor». Trap: a blanket does not make heat; it insulates, keeping in the heat you already have — and it also keeps an ice cube cold.

In the corpora

• The ice lid insulates the water below, which stays liquid, so fish and frogs can survive the winter at the bottom.

Trees and pragmatics

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