luck
part of speech
noun (luck); verb (luck out — informal US)
meaning for a pupil
1) Luck is when good or bad things happen by chance, not because of what you did. tree →
2) Good luck is when chance goes your way; bad luck is when it does not. tree →
3) «Good luck!» is said to wish someone success. tree →
sense in the lessons
In maths: chance in games and picks; «bad luck» or «worst luck» case in picking problems: think of the unluckiest picks first; probability is the maths of luck. In everyday life: good luck charms, lucky numbers. Myth: black cats and broken mirrors do not really bring bad luck. Phrases: good luck, bad luck, by luck, in luck, out of luck, try your luck, beginner's luck.
examples
- With bad luck, he picks 3 blue socks first. tree →
- She had good luck and found $5. tree →
- It takes luck to roll a 6. tree →
- Good luck on your test! tree →
- It was just luck that we found the lost ring. tree →
- You are in luck; there is one cake left. tree →
- Winning that game was beginner's luck. tree →
- Hard work matters more than luck. tree →
- Well, luck was ever against me! tree →
note
Uncountable: «good luck», not «a good luck». Adjective «lucky», opposite «unlucky». A story word; «worst luck» means think of the unluckiest picks. Otherwise no clue. Trap: a dice has no memory: after three 6s, the next roll is still 1 chance in 6.
In the corpora
- "Break a leg" is a theatre way of saying good luck.
- In China bats have long been a sign of good luck, because the word for bat sounds like the word for good fortune.
- Granny says a stork on the roof brings luck, and for many Ukrainians the stork stands for home and spring.
- Its red cap is bare skin, and in China and Japan it stands for long life and luck.
- She kindly offers him a lift, and Toad thinks: «Toad's luck again!
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «luck» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.