pipistrelle
part of speech
noun (a pipistrelle, pipistrelles)
meaning for a pupil
1) A pipistrelle is a very small bat, the commonest kind of bat in Britain and much of Europe. tree →
2) A pipistrelle is so small it could fit in a matchbox, and it eats thousands of tiny insects in a night. tree →
sense in the lessons
In science lessons on nocturnal animals and food chains, pupils learn that pipistrelles use echolocation (they send out squeaks and listen to the echoes) to catch midges and mosquitoes. Bats are protected by law in the UK: you must not disturb their roosts. On summer evenings children can see them flitting around streetlights. Phrases: «common pipistrelle», «soprano pipistrelle», «bat detector».
examples
- A pipistrelle can eat three thousand insects in one night. tree →
- We used a bat detector to hear the pipistrelles. tree →
- The pipistrelle flew around the streetlight catching moths. tree →
- Pipistrelles roost in roofs and old trees. tree →
- A pipistrelle weighs less than a pound coin. tree →
- Bats like the pipistrelle are protected by law in Britain. tree →
note
Say it "pip-i-STREL". Plural: «pipistrelles». Myth: bats are not blind, and pipistrelles do not get tangled in your hair. Bats are mammals, not birds.
In the corpora
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «pipistrelle» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.