mayfly

«mayfly» in Mova's school dictionary: A delicate insect with see-through wings and long tails… — 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 (a mayfly, mayflies)

meaning for a pupil

A delicate insect with see-through wings and long tails that lives for years as a young nymph in water but, as a flying adult, often lives only a day or less. tree →

sense in the lessons

In science lessons it is a famous example of a short adult life and a life cycle with nymphs; mayfly nymphs in a stream show that the water is clean. In stories and poems it stands for something that lasts a very short time. Phrases: mayfly nymph, as short-lived as a mayfly.

examples

• The mayfly lives under water for a year but flies for only one day. tree →
• We found mayfly nymphs in the stream, so the water was clean. tree →
• Adult mayflies cannot eat because they have no working mouths. tree →
• Thousands of mayflies danced above the lake at sunset. tree →
• Trout love to eat mayflies. tree →
• Her interest in chess was like a mayfly: gone by the next day. tree →

note

Plural mayflies (y becomes ies). Despite the name, mayflies are not only seen in May. Myth: they do not all live just 24 hours; some adults live a few minutes, others a couple of days.

In the corpora

• House flies live about two to four weeks; it is adult mayflies that may live only hours or a day.
• Some bristlecone pine trees in America are nearly 5,000 years old, while an adult mayfly may live only a day.
• An adult mayfly lives about a day, after a year or more as a nymph underwater.

Trees and pragmatics

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