lighter

«lighter» in Mova's school dictionary: A small device that makes a flame, used to light candles… — 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 lighter, lighters); adjective, comparative (light, lighter, lightest)

meaning for a pupil

1) A small device that makes a flame, used to light candles, cigarettes, stoves or fires. tree →

2) Less heavy: «A feather is lighter than a stone». tree →

3) Paler or less dark in colour: «light blue is lighter than navy». tree →

4) Brighter, with more light: «It's lighter in the mornings now». tree →

5) Less serious or less strong: «a lighter meal». tree →

6) Lighter can also mean less worried and happier in your heart. tree →

sense in the lessons

In maths and science: comparing mass — «Which is lighter?»; on a balance the lighter side goes up. In art: mix white to make a colour lighter. In safety: lighters and matches are not toys — give any you find to an adult. Phrases: «lighter than», «a cigarette lighter», «lighter in colour».

examples

• A feather is lighter than a brick. tree →
• The side of the scale that goes up is lighter. tree →
• Add white paint to make the blue lighter. tree →
• It gets lighter earlier in spring. tree →
• Never play with a lighter; give it to an adult. tree →
• Dad used a lighter to light the barbecue. tree →
• My school bag is lighter today because I have no books. tree →
• We had a lighter lunch because it was hot. tree →
• And when she had offered this prayer, her heart felt lighter. tree →

note

Two different words with the same spelling: «lighter» from «light» (not heavy / not dark) and «a lighter» (a flame tool, from the verb «light»). In maths, «lighter» compares mass: if A is 3 kg and B is 5 kg, A is 2 kg lighter. Opposites: heavier, darker.

In the corpora

• Keeping it a secret usually makes the feeling heavier; telling makes it lighter.
• Adding white to a colour makes a lighter tint, and adding black makes a darker shade.
• A shark's skeleton is made of cartilage, which is lighter and bendier than bone, so shark fossils are mostly teeth.
• A tiny pipistrelle, lighter than a coin, can eat around 3,000 small insects in one night.
• Sauropod bones had air pockets inside, as birds' bones do, which made the skeleton lighter and helped breathing.

Trees and pragmatics

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