megaphone
part of speech
noun (a megaphone, megaphones)
meaning for a pupil
1) A cone-shaped device you speak into to make your voice louder, so a crowd can hear you; modern ones use batteries and are electric. tree →
2) (figurative) Something that helps a person spread their message widely. tree →
sense in the lessons
In everyday life, megaphones are used at sports days, protests, beaches, fire drills and on boats. In science, a simple cone megaphone directs sound waves forward, so the voice carries further. Safety: never shout into someone's ear with a megaphone, because very loud sound can damage hearing. Phrases: «speak through a megaphone», «megaphone diplomacy» (shouting messages publicly rather than talking).
examples
- The teacher used a megaphone at sports day. tree →
- The lifeguard shouted through a megaphone to the swimmers. tree →
- We made a megaphone from rolled-up card. tree →
- The protesters had a megaphone and a big banner. tree →
- The megaphone makes your voice louder in one direction. tree →
- During the fire drill, the head teacher used a megaphone. tree →
- Don't point a megaphone at anyone's ear. tree →
- Social media can be a megaphone for anyone's opinion. tree →
note
Countable: one megaphone, two megaphones. «Mega-» means big; «-phone» means sound (as in telephone, microphone). Also called a «loudhailer» (UK) or «bullhorn» (US). Not a maths word.
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «megaphone» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.