tardigrade

«tardigrade» in Mova's school dictionary: a tiny, eight-legged animal, usually less than 1… — 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

noun (a tardigrade, tardigrades); also called water bear, moss piglet

meaning for a pupil

A tardigrade is a tiny, eight-legged animal, usually less than 1 millimetre long, that lives in water, moss and soil and can survive extreme conditions. tree →

sense in the lessons

In science lessons tardigrades amaze pupils: you need a microscope to see them; they look like chubby little bears with claws. When their home dries out they curl into a dry «tun» and can survive freezing, boiling, crushing pressure, radiation and even outer space for a while, then come back to life when wet. They live almost everywhere, from mountaintops to the deep sea. The name means «slow walker». Phrases: «water bear», «moss piglet».

examples

• A tardigrade is smaller than a full stop. tree →
• Tardigrades are also called water bears. tree →
• We looked for tardigrades in wet moss with a microscope. tree →
• Tardigrades survived a trip into outer space. tree →
• A dried-out tardigrade can come back to life in water. tree →
• Tardigrades have eight stubby legs with claws. tree →

note

Plural «tardigrades». Say TAR-di-grade. Trap: they are tough, but not indestructible; they can be killed, and they are not really bears or pigs.

In the corpora

• Dried tardigrades survive great cold, high pressure and radiation, but they are not immortal, and active tardigrades are quite fragile.

Trees and pragmatics

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