star

«star» in Mova's school dictionary: a huge ball of burning gas far away in space that we see… — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 5 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

part of speech

noun, verb (star, stars, starred, starring)

meaning for a pupil

1) A star is a huge ball of burning gas far away in space that we see as a bright point in the night sky. The Sun is a star. tree →

2) A star is a shape with five or more points. tree →

3) A star is a very famous actor, singer or player. tree →

4) A gold star is a reward for good work. tree →

5) To star in a film is to have a main part in it. tree →

sense in the lessons

Science: stars give their own light; planets do not; the Sun is the closest star; groups of stars are constellations. In maths a thing counted: stars in the sky, star stickers on a chart, stars drawn or earned; star shapes with 5 points. Everyday: a star pupil, five-star hotel, «reach for the stars».

examples

• Lily got 3 gold stars on Monday and 4 on Tuesday. tree →
• The teacher has 50 star stickers. tree →
• Each star has 5 points. tree →
• Sam drew 6 rows of 8 stars. tree →
• On a clear night you can see thousands of stars. tree →
• The Sun is the star at the centre of our solar system. tree →
• She was the star of the school play. tree →
• The hotel has four stars. tree →
• His eyes were fixed on the stars. tree →

note

Countable noun; verb starred, starring. Usually just the thing counted. Trap: «each star has 5 points» counts points per star, a rate, so points = stars × 5. Myth: a shooting star is not a star but a small rock burning in the air.

In the corpora

• Vivid example: in a Leeds corner shop, Auntie Bev holds up a magazine: "SOAP STAR'S SECRET HEARTBREAK!
• Stars go on chat shows mainly to promote a new film, book or tour, and their funny stories are often practised beforehand.
• Footballers and other stars are trained to say safe, boring things, because one wrong word can become a headline.
• K-pop singers usually train for years before their first show, and many trainees never become stars at all.
• The star-nosed mole swims in North American wetlands and smells underwater by blowing little bubbles onto things and sniffing them back in.

Trees and pragmatics

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