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# altar

«altar» in Mova's school dictionary: **a holy table at the front of a church where the priest or…** — 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

noun (an altar, altars)

### meaning for a pupil

1) (church) An altar is a holy table at the front of a church where the priest or minister prepares communion (the bread and wine). [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/A/altar/#m1)

2) (religion, history) An altar is a table or stone where people in old religions offered gifts or sacrifices to God or gods. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/A/altar/#m2)

3) (idiom) To sacrifice something on the altar of something is to give it up for that thing. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/A/altar/#m3)

### sense in the lessons

In RE and church life the altar is the focus of the church, often with a cloth, candles and a cross; couples stand before the altar at a wedding. In Bible stories Abraham, Noah and Elijah built altars. Phrases: «at the altar», «altar boy», «altar server», «lead someone to the altar» (marry them).

### examples

- The priest stood at the altar and blessed the bread and wine. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/A/altar/#x1)
- The bride and groom walked up to the altar. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/A/altar/#x2)
- Candles and flowers were placed on the altar. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/A/altar/#x3)
- In the Bible, Noah built an altar after the flood. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/A/altar/#x4)
- My brother is an altar server at Sunday Mass. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/A/altar/#x5)
- The ancient Greeks made offerings at altars to their gods. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/A/altar/#x6)
- The moujik hid himself behind the altar. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/A/altar/#x7)

### note

Homophone trap: «altar» (holy table) and «alter» (to change) sound the same. Remember: an altAr is a tAble. Countable: altars. Use «an altar» because it begins with a vowel sound.

### In the corpora

- [The altar or communion table is where the bread and wine are prepared for communion.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/religion-ethics/23-sunday-service-hymns-and-the-lords-prayer/18/)
- [And he erected there an altar, and called it El-elohe-Israel.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/torah/jps/GEN.1054/)
- [And Moses built an altar, and called the name of it Adonai-nissi.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/torah/jps/EXO.499/)
- [Neither shalt thou go up by steps unto Mine altar, that thy nakedness be not uncovered thereon.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/torah/jps/EXO.579/)
- [And Moses took half of the blood, and put it in basins; and half of the blood he dashed against the altar.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/torah/jps/EXO.688/)

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every meaning and example of «altar» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/A/altar/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.