zero

«zero» in Mova's school dictionary: the number 0, which means none, nothing at all — 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

number and noun (zero, zeros or zeroes); adjective (zero — none at all); verb (zero in on — phrasal)

meaning for a pupil

1) Zero is the number 0, which means none, nothing at all. tree →

2) Zero is the point on a scale where counting starts, such as 0 on a ruler or thermometer. tree →

3) Zero degrees Celsius is the temperature at which water freezes. tree →

4) To zero in on something is to aim straight at it or focus on it closely. tree →

sense in the lessons

In maths zero is the number for «none»: adding or taking away 0 changes nothing, multiplying by 0 always gives 0, and you cannot divide by 0. It is a place holder in numbers like 105 and 2,030. On a number line numbers below zero are negative. In science zero degrees Celsius is freezing point. In everyday life: «zero waste», «zero tolerance», «below zero» (very cold), «from zero to ten». Phrases: «absolute zero», «zero in on».

examples

• Five take away five is zero. tree →
• Any number times zero is zero. tree →
• It was below zero last night, so the pond froze. tree →
• Our team scored zero goals in the first half. tree →
• Count down: three, two, one, zero, lift-off! tree →
• In the number 407 the zero holds the tens place. tree →
• The eagle zeroed in on a rabbit in the field. tree →
• The ruler starts at zero, not at one. tree →
• His first feeling was of anger; his next that his temper fell to zero. tree →

note

Plural: zeros (also zeroes). In the UK people also say «nought» or «nil» (in football scores), and when reading phone numbers aloud people often say «oh». Zero is an even number. Zero is neither positive nor negative. In word problems «none», «no», «nothing left» mean 0. Trap: 0 ÷ 5 = 0, but 5 ÷ 0 has no answer.

In the corpora

• Bees were reported to learn that an empty card means less than one, a bit like zero, though this is still argued.
• Teachers and computer checkers often spot copied work, and cheating usually means a zero and a talk with your parents.
• Indian mathematicians treated zero as a real number, and the digits 0 to 9 on your calculator were invented in India.
• Think of writing one hundred and five: without a zero, how would you tell 105 from 15?
• The Maya counted in twenties and had their own sign for zero, a shell, invented separately from India.

Trees and pragmatics

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