wobbly

«wobbly» in Mova's school dictionary: Something wobbly moves or shakes from side to side… — 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

adjective (wobbly, wobblier, wobbliest); noun (throw a wobbly — informal, UK/Aus)

meaning for a pupil

1) Something wobbly moves or shakes from side to side because it is not firm or steady: a wobbly table, a wobbly tooth. tree →

2) If your legs or voice are wobbly, they are shaky because you are tired, ill, scared or upset. tree →

3) A wobbly line is not straight or neat. tree →

4) (informal, UK, Australia, NZ) To throw a wobbly means to suddenly get very angry or upset. tree →

sense in the lessons

In everyday life: wobbly teeth, wobbly chairs, wobbly jelly, wobbly first bike rides. In safety lessons a wobbly ladder or shelf is a danger sign. In stories, a character's wobbly voice shows they are nervous or about to cry. Phrases: «a wobbly tooth», «wobbly legs», «throw a wobbly».

examples

• My front tooth is wobbly. tree →
• This table is wobbly, so put a book under the leg. tree →
• The jelly was red and wobbly. tree →
• Her legs felt wobbly after the long run. tree →
• His voice went wobbly when he said goodbye. tree →
• I rode my bike, but I was a bit wobbly at first. tree →
• Don't stand on that wobbly chair! tree →
• My little brother threw a wobbly when the ice cream fell. tree →

note

From the verb «wobble». Spelling: wobblier, wobbliest (y becomes i). Americans usually say «loose tooth» rather than «wobbly tooth». A wobbly ladder or chair is unsafe — tell an adult.

In the corpora

• An art teacher wants to see your own drawing, wobbly lines and all, not a traced copy.
• Most people will not notice one wobbly line, and you can draw over it; sketchbooks are full of wobbly lines.
• Macadamia nuts can make dogs weak, wobbly and sick for a day or two, and nobody knows exactly why.
• In spring a mallard mother marches a wobbly line of ducklings across the path while a swan hisses at anyone near its nest.
• Giving a talk is a skill, like riding a bike: wobbly at first, smoother with every practice.

Trees and pragmatics

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