tsunami
part of speech
noun (a tsunami, tsunamis)
meaning for a pupil
1) A tsunami is a huge sea wave, or series of waves, caused by an earthquake, volcano or landslide under the sea. tree →
2) A tsunami can also mean a huge amount of something arriving at once, like a tsunami of emails. tree →
sense in the lessons
In geography and safety lessons tsunamis show the power of earthquakes; warning signs are a strong earthquake near the coast or the sea pulling far back from the shore — go to high ground at once. Phrases: «tsunami warning», «a tsunami hit», «tsunami evacuation route».
examples
- A tsunami can travel across the whole ocean. tree →
- The earthquake caused a tsunami. tree →
- If the sea suddenly goes far out, go to high ground at once. tree →
- The town has signs showing the tsunami evacuation route. tree →
- The tsunami flooded the coast. tree →
- Scientists can send out tsunami warnings. tree →
- A tsunami is not caused by wind. tree →
note
Countable. Japanese word meaning «harbour wave»; the t is often silent in English: soo-NAH-mee. Trap: a tsunami is not a «tidal wave» — tides do not cause it. A tsunami may be a series of waves, so do not go back to the beach after the first one.
In the corpora
- Mangrove roots break waves and hold the soil, and after the 2004 tsunami, places with mangroves often had less damage.
- Near the coast, a long or strong earthquake can be followed by a tsunami within minutes.
- An earthquake under the sea can push up a huge wave called a tsunami, which may reach the coast within minutes.
- If the sea suddenly pulls far back from the beach, a tsunami may be coming: go to high ground at once.
- In 1755 an earthquake, a tsunami and fires destroyed much of Lisbon, killing tens of thousands of people.
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «tsunami» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.