unicorn
part of speech
noun (a unicorn, unicorns)
meaning for a pupil
1) A unicorn is a magical animal from stories and legends that looks like a white horse with one long, straight, twisted horn on its forehead. tree →
2) (informal) A unicorn is something rare and wonderful that is very hard to find. tree →
3) (money) A unicorn is a new company that has become worth over a billion dollars. tree →
sense in the lessons
In stories and myths unicorns stand for purity, magic and wildness; they are the national animal of Scotland and appear on the UK royal coat of arms with the lion. People in the past may have imagined them from narwhal tusks (sold as «unicorn horns»), oryx or rhinos. In science lessons they are a good example of a myth: unicorns are not real. Phrases: «unicorn horn», «as rare as a unicorn».
examples
- The unicorn galloped through the enchanted forest. tree →
- My sister has unicorn pyjamas. tree →
- The unicorn is the national animal of Scotland. tree →
- Unicorns are made-up animals; they are not real. tree →
- Long ago, traders sold narwhal tusks as unicorn horns. tree →
- A friend who always shares their sweets is a unicorn! (informal) tree →
- The lion and the unicorn are on the royal coat of arms. tree →
- In the forest there lives a unicorn that commits great damage, you must first catch him." tree →
note
Plural «unicorns». Use «a», not «an», because it starts with a «you» sound: «a unicorn». «Uni» means one, as in uniform and unicycle. Trap: a narwhal is real (a whale with a long tusk); a unicorn is a legend.
In the corpora
- In the Middle Ages narwhal tusks were sold in Europe as unicorn horns and were worth more than their weight in gold.
- She was so nice: she loved the same unicorn skins, the same band, the same snack.
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «unicorn» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.