secret
part of speech
noun (secret, secrets); adjective (secret); adverb (secretly)
meaning for a pupil
1) A secret is something you keep hidden and do not tell others. tree →
2) Secret means hidden or known by only a few people: «a secret door». tree →
3) The secret of something is the special way to do it well: «the secret of a good cake». tree →
sense in the lessons
a hidden or unknown number: «a secret number» to find; in safety: good secrets (a surprise party) are fine to keep, but bad secrets that make you feel scared or unsafe should be told to a trusted adult; in stories: secret passages, secret codes, secret agents; phrases: «keep a secret», «tell a secret», «in secret», «top secret»
examples
- I think of a secret number, add 4 and get 11. tree →
- Find the secret number. tree →
- The secret code has 3 digits. tree →
- She kept the secret. tree →
- We planned a secret birthday party for Dad. tree →
- If a secret makes you feel bad, tell a trusted adult. tree →
- The old house had a secret passage behind the bookcase. tree →
- The secret of good bread is patience. tree →
- They met in secret behind the shed. tree →
- I will not tell your secret. tree →
note
A secret number is unknown: undo the steps backwards (add 4 and get 11 → 11 − 4 = 7). Safety: a surprise is a good secret that ends soon; never keep secrets about being hurt. A code of 3 digits 0–9 has 1,000 possibilities.
In the corpora
- A PIN is the secret number that proves the card is yours.
- Gambling is against the law under 18, and a child should never keep a grown-up's gambling or money worries secret.
- A polling station is a place, often a school or church hall, where people vote in secret in a small booth.
- Voting is secret, so nobody has to tell anyone how they voted, not even their own family.
- Good secrets are about timing, like a surprise party that ends in a happy moment.
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «secret» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.