possum
part of speech
noun (a possum, possums)
meaning for a pupil
1) A possum is an Australian and New Zealand marsupial (an animal with a pouch) that lives in trees and comes out at night. tree →
2) (US) Possum is the short name for opossum, an American animal with a pouch. tree →
3) (informal) «Play possum» means to pretend to be asleep or dead. tree →
sense in the lessons
In Australia possums are common in gardens and roofs; in New Zealand they are a pest that harms forests and birds. In the US «opossum» or «possum» is a different animal. In science lessons it is about marsupials and nocturnal animals. The phrase «playing possum» comes from the opossum pretending to be dead.
examples
- A possum climbed onto our roof at night. tree →
- Possums carry babies in a pouch. tree →
- In New Zealand, possums eat birds' eggs and trees. tree →
- The opossum, or possum, lives in America. tree →
- My brother played possum so he wouldn't have to get up. tree →
- We heard possums in the gum tree. tree →
- (Australia) «G'day, possum» is a friendly name for someone you like. tree →
- The possum's eyes shone in the torch light. tree →
note
Plural: possums. Australian/NZ possums and American opossums are not the same animal, though both have pouches. In Australia «possum» is also a pet name (a friendly way to talk to a child).
In the corpora
- "You're not in trouble, possum.
- And the Australian possum living in a roof is a different animal from the American opossum, though both carry their babies in pouches.
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «possum» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.