[Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/w/axis.html)

[home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [dictionaries](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/) / [The school dictionary](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/) / axis

[← A](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/A/)

# axis

«axis» in Mova's school dictionary: **an imaginary straight line that something spins around…** — 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 axis, axes)

### meaning for a pupil

1) An axis is an imaginary straight line that something spins around, like the Earth's axis. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/A/axis/#m1)

2) In maths, an axis is one of the main lines on a graph, the x-axis going across and the y-axis going up. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/A/axis/#m2)

3) An axis of symmetry is a line that cuts a shape into two matching halves. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/A/axis/#m3)

### sense in the lessons

In science, the Earth spins on its axis once a day, making day and night, and its tilted axis causes the seasons. In maths, graphs and charts have a horizontal axis and a vertical axis, each with a label and a scale; coordinates are read along the x-axis first, then the y-axis. Phrases: x-axis, y-axis, axis of symmetry, spin on its axis.

### examples

- The Earth spins on its axis once every 24 hours. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/A/axis/#x1)
- The Earth's axis is tilted, which gives us seasons. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/A/axis/#x2)
- Label the x-axis «days» and the y-axis «temperature». [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/A/axis/#x3)
- The point (3, 5) is 3 along the x-axis and 5 up. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/A/axis/#x4)
- A square has four axes of symmetry. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/A/axis/#x5)
- Draw the axis of symmetry on the butterfly. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/A/axis/#x6)
- The bar chart's vertical axis goes up in fives. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/A/axis/#x7)
- A spinning top turns around its axis. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/A/axis/#x8)

### note

Plural: axes (said «AX-eez»). Do not confuse with «axe/ax», a tool for chopping, whose plural is also spelled axes. In maths problems, read the scale on each axis carefully; the steps may be 2, 5 or 10, not 1.

### In the corpora

- [Earth's axis is tilted by about 23.4 degrees, and that tilt, not the distance from the Sun, causes the seasons.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/geography/21-climate-zones-and-why-they-are-where-they-are/10/)
- [The Earth is a huge ball that spins around an imaginary line through its middle, called its axis.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/world/1-day-and-night/0/)
- [The Earth spins around its axis once in about 24 hours.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/world/1-day-and-night/5/)
- [The Earth's axis is tilted by about 23 and a half degrees.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/world/2-seasons-and-the-tilt/6/)
- [The axis keeps pointing the same way in space all year round.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/world/2-seasons-and-the-tilt/7/)

### Trees and pragmatics

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