ivy

«ivy» in Mova's school dictionary: An evergreen climbing plant with dark shiny leaves that… — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 3 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

part of speech

noun (ivy, ivies; uncountable for the plant in general); also a name (Ivy)

meaning for a pupil

1) An evergreen climbing plant with dark shiny leaves that grows up walls and trees. tree →

2) (poison ivy, North America) A different plant whose leaves give an itchy rash. tree →

3) (Ivy League, USA) A group of old famous universities. tree →

4) (a name) Ivy is a girl's name. tree →

sense in the lessons

In science lessons: ivy is a climber; its berries are food for birds in winter but poisonous to people. At Christmas, «The Holly and the Ivy» carol. In stories old houses are «covered in ivy». Phrases: «ivy-covered walls», «poison ivy», «Ivy League».

examples

• Ivy climbed all over the old castle wall. tree →
• Birds eat ivy berries in winter. tree →
• Don't eat ivy berries; they are poisonous to people. tree →
• We sang «The Holly and the Ivy» at the Christmas concert. tree →
• In Canada we learn: leaves of three, let it be — that's poison ivy. tree →
• The Badger's house had an ivy-covered entrance. tree →
• My great-gran was called Ivy. tree →

note

Poison ivy (North America) is not a true ivy. Ivy does not usually kill healthy trees, a common myth; it uses them for support. Plural «ivies» is rare (kinds of ivy).

In the corpora

• Never burn poison ivy, because the smoke carries its oil into the lungs.
• A boy in Ohio burned poison ivy with garden rubbish; he breathed in the smoke and his throat and lungs were badly hurt.
• Burning poison ivy or oak sends the oil into the smoke, which can hurt your lungs.

Trees and pragmatics

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