role

«role» in Mova's school dictionary: a part that an actor plays in a film, play or show — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 3 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

part of speech

noun (a role, roles)

meaning for a pupil

1) A role is a part that an actor plays in a film, play or show. tree →

2) A role is a job, position or purpose someone or something has, like the role of a captain. tree →

3) A role is how important something is in a situation, as in "play a big role". tree →

sense in the lessons

In drama, pupils get roles in the school play and do role play to act out situations; in safety lessons, role play helps practise saying no. In science, things have roles (the role of the heart is to pump blood). In everyday life a role model is someone you look up to. Phrases: "play a role", "the lead role", "role play", "role model", "take on a role", "role reversal".

examples

• I got the role of the wolf in the school play. tree →
• What is the role of the heart in the body? tree →
• My big sister is my role model. tree →
• In role play, we practised what to do if a stranger asks us to go with them. tree →
• Exercise plays an important role in staying healthy. tree →
• Her role in the team is goalkeeper. tree →
• Mum took on the role of class rep this year. tree →

note

Countable: a role, roles. Homophone: roll (a bread roll, or to turn over and over). "Role" for a part; "roll" for movement or bread. Some old texts spell it "rôle".

In the corpora

• Most actors are not famous; many do small roles, adverts and voice work, and face many auditions and rejections.
• Cousins who grow up close can be as close as siblings, or a role model you look up to.
• An older cousin can be a role model, like a big brother or sister.

Trees and pragmatics

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