sand
part of speech
noun (sand, sands); verb (sand, sands, sanded, sanding)
meaning for a pupil
1) Tiny grains of rock and shell, found on beaches and in deserts. tree →
2) "Sands" means a large area of sand. tree →
3) As a verb, to rub wood with sandpaper to make it smooth. tree →
sense in the lessons
In science, sand is made when rocks and shells are slowly broken by water and wind (weathering); glass is made by melting sand. In safety: hot sand can burn feet; don't throw sand; dig sandcastles but not deep holes that can collapse. Phrases: sandcastle, sandpit, sandbox, sand dune, sandpaper, quicksand.
examples
- We built a sandcastle on the beach. tree →
- Sand is made of tiny pieces of rock. tree →
- The desert is full of sand. tree →
- Don't throw sand at your friends. tree →
- The sand is too hot to walk on. tree →
- Dad sanded the old table. tree →
- Glass is made from sand. tree →
- The children played in the sandpit. tree →
- The whole church was completely buried in sand. tree →
note
Usually uncountable: "some sand", not "a sand". "Sandpit" (British, Australian) = "sandbox" (American). Sand can hold heat and burn feet.
In the corpora
- Warmer sand gives more girl hatchlings and cooler sand more boys, and bright beach lights can lead hatchlings the wrong way.
- Modern elephant houses have deep sand and heated floors, because years on hard concrete hurt elephants' feet and joints.
- Ostriches do not bury their heads in sand; they could not breathe, and it would not make them safer.
- Sea turtle babies hatch from eggs buried in sand and head for the sea, and warmer sand makes more of the babies female.
- The sidewinder snake moves sideways and touches the hot sand at only two points, leaving J-shaped tracks.
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «sand» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.