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# camphor

«camphor» in Mova's school dictionary: **A white, waxy substance with a strong, sharp smell, taken…** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples.

### part of speech

noun (camphor, uncountable)

### meaning for a pupil

1) A white, waxy substance with a strong, sharp smell, taken from the wood of the camphor tree or made in factories; it is used in some medicines and rubs, and once to keep moths away from clothes. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/camphor/#m1)

2) Camphor can also mean the large tree that the substance comes from. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/camphor/#m2)

### sense in the lessons

In science, camphor is a chemical that turns straight from a solid to a gas (it sublimes), which is why its smell spreads. In the past, clothes were stored with camphor or mothballs. In old stories, a room or old clothes smelling of camphor tells the reader they have been put away for a long time. Safety: camphor is poisonous if swallowed, especially for small children.

### examples

- The old trunk smelled of camphor. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/camphor/#x1)
- Vapour rub has camphor and menthol in it. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/camphor/#x2)
- Camphor is poisonous, so never eat it. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/camphor/#x3)
- The camphor tree grows in Asia. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/camphor/#x4)
- Grandma kept camphor in the wardrobe to stop moths. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/camphor/#x5)
- The smell of camphor made my eyes water. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/camphor/#x6)
- Thence we sailed to the isle of Rohat where the camphor trees grow to such a size that a hundred men could shelter under one of them with ease. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/camphor/#x7)

### note

Uncountable. Sounds like «CAM-fer». Safety word: keep camphor products away from small children.

### Trees and pragmatics

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