mask

«mask» in Mova's school dictionary: a covering you wear over your face or part of it, to hide… — 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 mask, masks); verb (mask, masks, masked, masking)

meaning for a pupil

1) A mask is a covering you wear over your face or part of it, to hide who you are, to dress up, or to protect yourself. tree →

2) A face mask is a covering over the nose and mouth to stop germs, dust or smoke getting in or out. tree →

3) A mask can be a special breathing mask, like for diving or for oxygen. tree →

4) To mask something means to hide or cover it, like masking a smell. tree →

5) Masking tape is a paper tape used to cover edges when painting. tree →

sense in the lessons

Everyday: masks for Halloween, carnivals and plays; snorkel and diving masks; doctors and dentists wear masks to stop germs; masks protect against dust and smoke. Safety: on a plane, «put on your own oxygen mask before helping others». In stories, a masked person is often a hero or villain hiding their identity. Phrases: «wear a mask», «face mask», «oxygen mask», «snorkel mask», «masked», «masking tape».

examples

• We made masks for the carnival. tree →
• The doctor wore a mask over her nose and mouth. tree →
• Put on your own oxygen mask first. tree →
• The superhero wore a black mask. tree →
• I can see fish through my snorkel mask. tree →
• Dad wore a dust mask while sanding the wood. tree →
• The smell of paint was masked by the flowers. tree →
• Use masking tape so the paint stays in a straight line. tree →
• The domino raised his mask, and it was George. tree →

note

Countable: «a mask, masks». Adjective: «masked» (wearing a mask). Do not mix up with «mast» (a tall pole on a ship). Masks should not cover a young child's face in a way that makes breathing hard.

In the corpora

• The black mask round a raccoon's eyes may reduce glare and help it see at night, though scientists are not completely sure.
• The Greeks invented theatre, with comedies and tragedies performed in great open-air theatres by actors wearing masks.
• The famous beaked plague doctor mask comes from a later plague in the 1600s, not from the Black Death.
• Masks catch some of the droplets that carry viruses and do not stop you getting enough oxygen.
• In 2020 and 2021 governments asked people to wear masks, keep apart and stay home to slow the spread before there were vaccines.

Trees and pragmatics

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