mountain

«mountain» in Mova's school dictionary: A very high hill with steep sides, usually higher than… — 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 mountain, mountains); adjective forms (mountainous)

meaning for a pupil

1) A very high hill with steep sides, usually higher than about 600 metres. tree →

2) A very large pile or amount: a mountain of homework. tree →

sense in the lessons

In geography: mountains form when the Earth's plates push together or from volcanoes; mountain ranges like the Rockies (USA, Canada), the Southern Alps (New Zealand), the Great Dividing Range (Australia), and Ben Nevis (UK's highest); Everest is the highest in the world (about 8,849 m). It is colder higher up. In safety: weather changes fast on mountains; tell people your route, wear proper clothes. Phrases: mountain range, mountain top, climb a mountain, mountain bike, a mountain of, make a mountain out of a molehill.

examples

• Mount Everest is the highest mountain in the world. tree →
• We climbed a mountain on holiday. tree →
• It gets colder as you go up a mountain. tree →
• The Rocky Mountains stretch across Canada and the USA. tree →
• There was snow on the mountain tops. tree →
• I have a mountain of washing to do. tree →
• Don't make a mountain out of a molehill. tree →
• My uncle rides a mountain bike. tree →
• A MOUNTAIN was once greatly agitated. tree →

note

Countable: mountains. Spelling: «moun-tain», said «MOUN-tin». Names: Mount Everest (Mt.), the Andes. In maths: comparing heights, «how much higher» = subtract (8,849 − 1,345 = 7,504 m higher than Ben Nevis).

In the corpora

• Mountain gorillas were known to local people long before scientists first described them in 1902, and now there are about a thousand.
• The kea is a curious mountain parrot from New Zealand that solves problems, steals food and sometimes pulls rubber off cars.
• Dian Fossey studied mountain gorillas in Rwanda and fought against poachers who trapped them; her work helped start the protection that saved them.
• Picture a golden eagle high over a mountain.
• They came from the cold Andes mountains of South America, where thousands of purple, red and knobbly kinds still grow.

Trees and pragmatics

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