poor

«poor» in Mova's school dictionary: having very little money and few things, so that it is… — 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

adjective (poor, poorer, poorest); noun (the poor — poor people as a group)

meaning for a pupil

1) Poor means having very little money and few things, so that it is hard to pay for food, a home or clothes. tree →

2) Poor means not good enough, low in quality: poor work, poor light, poor health. tree →

3) We say «poor» when we feel sorry for someone: «Poor puppy, it is cold.» tree →

4) Poor at something means not skilled at it. tree →

sense in the lessons

In everyday life and stories it tells the reader that someone has little money or that something went badly; in stories «poor» before a name shows the narrator feels sorry for that character. In science, «poor» describes weak results: a poor conductor of heat lets little heat through. Common phrases: poor thing, poor health, poor eyesight, poor weather, a poor mark, poor at spelling, the rich and the poor.

examples

• The family was too poor to buy a car, so they took the bus. tree →
• My handwriting is poor when I write too fast. tree →
• Poor Max fell off his bike and scraped his knee. tree →
• Wood is a poor conductor of heat, so the spoon handle stays cool. tree →
• The light was too poor to read by, so I switched on the lamp. tree →
• I am poor at catching but good at running. tree →
• Charities collect food for poor families at Christmas. tree →
• The plants grew badly in the poor, dry soil. tree →
• "Poor little fellow!" said Mr. Fitz-war-ren. tree →

note

Adjective: poor, poorer, poorest. «The poor» means poor people in general and takes a plural verb: «The poor need help.» Do not confuse with «pour» (to tip liquid out) and «pore» (a tiny hole in skin, or to study closely) — they can sound the same. Poor (sorry for) does not mean the person has no money: «Poor Gran has a cold.» Opposite of the money sense: rich; of the quality sense: good.

In the corpora

• If prices rise and pay doesn't, a person is really getting poorer each year.
• To help someone with poor hearing, face them and speak clearly, without shouting.
• A big body keeps heat in, can live on poor food like twigs and is hard for predators to kill.
• Sleeping a lot saves energy when food is poor or comes only at certain times.
• O my poor shin!»; the Rat tied it up with his handkerchief.

Trees and pragmatics

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