spiky

«spiky» in Mova's school dictionary: Something spiky has many sharp points sticking out: a… — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 1 sentence of Mova's corpora that use it.

part of speech

adjective (spiky, spikier, spikiest); noun spikiness

meaning for a pupil

1) Something spiky has many sharp points sticking out: a spiky cactus, a spiky shell. tree →

2) Spiky hair is stiff and sticks up in points. tree →

3) (informal) A spiky person is easily annoyed and unfriendly. tree →

sense in the lessons

In science lessons spiky plants and animals (hedgehogs, cacti, sea urchins) use spikes to protect themselves; in safety lessons spiky things can hurt you. In stories it describes looks and moods. Phrases: spiky hair, a spiky ball, spiky leaves.

examples

• Hedgehogs have spiky backs. tree →
• Don't touch the cactus, it's very spiky. tree →
• He used gel to make his hair spiky. tree →
• The conker case is green and spiky. tree →
• A spiky shape has lots of points, like a star. tree →
• Grandpa gets a bit spiky when he is tired. tree →
• The sea urchin is the spikiest thing in the rock pool. tree →

note

Comparative: spikier, spikiest. From «spike» (a sharp point) + «-y». Similar words: prickly (with small sharp points), pointy, sharp. «Prickly» also means easily annoyed.

In the corpora

• Then you spot black spiky caterpillars on those same nettles, the babies of peacock and red admiral butterflies.

Trees and pragmatics

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