moss
part of speech
noun (moss — uncountable; mosses for kinds)
meaning for a pupil
A small, soft, green plant without flowers that grows in thick, low patches on damp ground, rocks, trees and walls. tree →
sense in the lessons
In science, mosses are simple plants: they have no flowers, seeds or proper roots, and they make spores to reproduce. They need damp, shady places and soak up water like a sponge, which helps prevent floods and keeps soil from washing away. Moss often grows on the shady side of trees and rocks; in the Northern Hemisphere that is often the north side, but this is not a safe way to find your way. In safety, moss on rocks and steps is very slippery. Phrases: "covered in moss", "moss-covered", "a rolling stone gathers no moss".
examples
- The old wall was covered in green moss. tree →
- Moss feels soft and spongy. tree →
- Mosses grow in damp, shady places. tree →
- Be careful — moss on the rocks is slippery. tree →
- Moss makes spores instead of seeds. tree →
- Birds use moss to line their nests. tree →
- We found moss growing between the paving stones. tree →
- A rolling stone gathers no moss. tree →
- Not a single glow-worm glittered in the moss. tree →
note
Uncountable: "some moss", "a patch of moss"; "mosses" means different kinds. Spelling: double s. Myth: "moss only grows on the north side of trees" is not reliable for finding directions. Reindeer moss is actually a lichen, not a moss.
In the corpora
- Picture a town where nobody has walked for 40 years: birches grow through flats, moss covers the roads.
- Moss can grow on any damp, shady side of a tree, so it is not a reliable way to find north.
- Moss does not grow only on the north side of trees, so it is not a reliable guide.
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «moss» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.