mere

«mere» in Mova's school dictionary: only, just, no more than: a mere child, a mere five minutes — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 1 sentence of Mova's corpora that use it.

part of speech

adjective (mere, merest; merely adv.); noun (a mere, meres — old or poetic)

meaning for a pupil

1) Mere means only, just, no more than: a mere child, a mere five minutes. It makes something sound small or unimportant. tree →

2) The merest means the smallest possible: the merest touch. tree →

3) (old, poetic, place names) A mere is a lake or pond, as in some English place names. tree →

sense in the lessons

In stories and formal writing: «a mere boy beat the giant», «the mere thought of spiders makes me shiver». In maths problems: «it costs a mere £2» stresses that the amount is small.

examples

• It was a mere five minutes' walk to school. tree →
• She was a mere child when she learnt to swim. tree →
• The mere sight of the dentist's chair scared him. tree →
• It cost a mere fifty pence. tree →
• At the merest noise, the rabbit ran away. tree →
• The walk took us around the mere. tree →
• I shiver at the mere thought of it.” tree →

note

Only used before a noun: «a mere child» (not «the child is mere»). Adverb: merely (only). In maths, «a mere 3» still equals 3; the word adds feeling, not a different number.

In the corpora

• Sayest thou that a mere word of the lips is counsel and strength for the war?

Trees and pragmatics

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