vandalism

«vandalism» in Mova's school dictionary: Damaging or destroying other people's property or public… — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples.

part of speech

noun (vandalism; uncountable)

meaning for a pupil

Damaging or destroying other people's property or public things on purpose, such as breaking windows or spraying paint. tree →

sense in the lessons

In citizenship and safety lessons: vandalism is a crime and costs everyone money to repair. In news and stories it names careless or angry damage. A person who does it is a vandal; to do it is to vandalise.

examples

• Smashing the bus shelter glass was an act of vandalism. tree →
• The park closed after vandalism to the swings. tree →
• Graffiti on the school wall counts as vandalism. tree →
• Vandalism costs the council thousands of pounds each year. tree →
• The police are looking into the vandalism at the station. tree →
• Our class cleaned up after the vandalism in the playground. tree →

note

Uncountable: «an act of vandalism», not «a vandalism». Vandal (person), vandalise (UK) / vandalize (US). Named after the Vandals, an ancient people said to have wrecked Rome.

Trees and pragmatics

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