ivory

«ivory» in Mova's school dictionary: the hard, creamy-white material that elephant tusks are… — 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 (ivory, uncountable); adjective (ivory — the colour)

meaning for a pupil

1) Ivory is the hard, creamy-white material that elephant tusks are made of; walrus, narwhal and hippo teeth are also ivory. tree →

2) Ivory is a creamy off-white colour. tree →

3) In the past, piano keys, chess pieces and carvings were made of ivory; «tickle the ivories» (informal) means to play the piano. tree →

4) «An ivory tower» is a place or life far from real-world problems, especially used about clever people who do not understand ordinary life. tree →

5) Ivory City is the name of a fairy-tale city in one story. tree →

sense in the lessons

In science and geography lessons about endangered animals, poachers kill elephants and rhinos (rhino horn is different, made of keratin) for ivory, which is why selling new ivory is banned in most countries, including the UK. In history and art lessons, ivory carvings and old piano keys are shown. Phrases: elephant ivory, ivory trade, ivory poaching, ivory white, ivory tower, Côte d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast).

examples

• Elephants are killed by poachers for their ivory. tree →
• Selling new ivory is against the law in many countries. tree →
• The old piano had ivory keys. tree →
• She chose an ivory-coloured dress. tree →
• The museum has a chess set carved from walrus ivory. tree →
• Rangers protect elephants from ivory hunters. tree →
• (informal) Grandad likes to tickle the ivories at parties. tree →
• Scientists should not live in an ivory tower. tree →
• This is none other than Gulizar of the Ivory City. tree →

note

Uncountable: «made of ivory», not «an ivory» (except «ivories», an informal word for piano keys or ivory objects). Pronounced «EYE-vuh-ree». Côte d'Ivoire, the West African country, is French for «Ivory Coast». Plastic and resin «ivory» copies are used today instead of real ivory.

In the corpora

• Moreover the king made a great throne of ivory, and overlaid it with the finest gold.
• Myrrh, and aloes, and cassia are all thy garments; out of ivory palaces stringed instruments have made thee glad.
• His hands are as rods of gold set with beryl; his body is as polished ivory overlaid with sapphires.
• Moreover the king made a great throne of ivory, and overlaid it with pure gold.

Trees and pragmatics

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