raccoon
part of speech
noun (a raccoon, raccoons)
meaning for a pupil
A raccoon is a grey furry animal from North America with a black "mask" across its eyes and a bushy striped tail. tree →
sense in the lessons
Used in science and nature: raccoons are omnivores and nocturnal (active at night); they often wash or feel food with their front paws. In everyday life in the USA and Canada, raccoons raid rubbish bins. Safety: do not touch or feed wild raccoons; they can bite and carry disease.
examples
- A raccoon tipped over our bin last night. tree →
- Raccoons have black masks and striped tails. tree →
- Raccoons are nocturnal, so they come out at night. tree →
- Do not try to pet a wild raccoon. tree →
- The raccoon used its paws like hands. tree →
- Raccoons eat fruit, insects, eggs and food scraps. tree →
- We saw raccoon tracks in the snow. tree →
- De raccoon totes a bushy tail, De 'possum totes no ha'r, Mr. Rabbit, he come skippin' by, He ain't got none ter spar'. tree →
note
Countable. Also spelled "racoon" in British English. Young raccoons are called kits. Raccoons are wild animals, not pets in most places.
In the corpora
- A raccoon dipping food in water is feeling it, not washing it; water makes its paws even more sensitive.
- The black mask round a raccoon's eyes may reduce glare and help it see at night, though scientists are not completely sure.
- Raccoons are common in North American cities like Toronto, where they raid bins and nest in attics and chimneys.
- Raccoons were brought to Europe and some escaped; now they live wild in Germany and are spreading to nearby countries.
- A raccoon, an opossum and a skunk each have four legs, one tail and a coat of fur.
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «raccoon» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.