outskirts

«outskirts» in Mova's school dictionary: the parts at its edge, furthest from the centre — 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

noun (the outskirts — plural only)

meaning for a pupil

The outskirts of a town or city are the parts at its edge, furthest from the centre. tree →

sense in the lessons

In geography lessons on settlements, the outskirts often have newer housing estates, retail parks, factories and farmland, while the centre has old buildings and shops. In stories a lonely house «on the outskirts of the village» sets the scene. Phrases: «on the outskirts of», «the outskirts of town».

examples

• We live on the outskirts of Manchester. tree →
• The big supermarket is on the outskirts of town. tree →
• A spooky old house stood on the outskirts of the village. tree →
• The airport is on the outskirts of the city. tree →
• Farms begin where the outskirts end. tree →
• The army camped on the outskirts of Rome. tree →
• When he came to the outskirts, he called ‘Iron Hans’ three times so loudly that it echoed through the trees. tree →

note

Always plural: «the outskirts», with «on the outskirts of». No singular «outskirt» in normal use. Similar: «edge», «suburbs» (suburbs are areas of houses around a city).

In the corpora

• Lo, these are but the outskirts of His ways; and how small a whisper is heard of Him!

Trees and pragmatics

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