mule
part of speech
noun (a mule, mules)
meaning for a pupil
1) An animal whose mother is a horse and father is a donkey; it is strong and used for carrying loads. tree →
2) (informal) A very stubborn person: stubborn as a mule. tree →
3) A slipper or shoe with no back. tree →
4) (slang) A person who carries illegal drugs or money across borders for criminals. tree →
sense in the lessons
In science lessons mules are an example of a hybrid (a cross between two kinds of animal); mules usually cannot have babies. In history and geography, mules carry loads on mountain paths. In everyday talk «stubborn as a mule». The criminal sense appears in news and safety warnings. Phrases: stubborn as a mule, mule track.
examples
- The mule carried our bags up the mountain path. tree →
- A mule is a cross between a horse and a donkey. tree →
- He's as stubborn as a mule and won't change his mind. tree →
- Mules are strong and sure-footed. tree →
- Mum wears her fluffy mules around the house. tree →
- The police caught the drug mule at the airport. tree →
- Most mules cannot have foals. tree →
- The farmer ploughed the field with a mule. tree →
- “What’s bridle-wise?” said the young mule. tree →
note
Countable: mules. Science: a mule's father is a donkey and mother a horse; the opposite cross is a hinny. Safety: never agree to carry a package for a stranger.
In the corpora
- Then all the king's sons arose, and every man got him up upon his mule, and fled.
- They of the house of Togarmah traded for thy wares with horses and horsemen and mules.
- Their horses were seven hundred thirty and six; their mules, two hundred forty and five;
- Their horses were seven hundred thirty and six; their mules, two hundred forty and five;
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «mule» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.