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# constant

«constant» in Mova's school dictionary: **happening all the time or again and again: "constant noise"** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 1 sentence of Mova's corpora that use it.

### part of speech

adjective (constant); noun (a constant, constants)

### meaning for a pupil

1) Constant means happening all the time or again and again: "constant noise". [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/constant/#m1)

2) Constant means staying the same, not changing: "drive at a constant speed". [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/constant/#m2)

3) (noun) In maths and science, a constant is a number or amount that does not change, like the number of days in a week. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/constant/#m3)

4) (old, literary) Constant means loyal and faithful: "a constant friend". [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/constant/#m4)

### sense in the lessons

In maths problems, "a constant speed" or "a constant rate" means the same amount every hour, so distance = speed × time. In science experiments, things kept constant are controlled so a test is fair. In stories, constant noise or complaining shows something annoying. Phrases: constant speed, constant temperature, keep constant, a constant reminder.

### examples

- The car travelled at a constant speed of 60 kilometres an hour. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/constant/#x1)
- Keep the water temperature constant during the experiment. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/constant/#x2)
- The baby's constant crying kept us awake. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/constant/#x3)
- The dog was his constant companion. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/constant/#x4)
- At a constant rate of 5 pages a day, 30 pages take 6 days. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/constant/#x5)
- In a fair test, everything is constant except one thing. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/constant/#x6)
- The constant rain spoiled the camping trip. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/constant/#x7)
- The wife of the Viking lived in constant pain and sorrow about it. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/constant/#x8)

### note

Adverb: constantly (all the time). In maths, "constant" means the amount does not change; in everyday talk it often means "happening a lot" and can sound annoyed. A constant in an expression like 2x + 5 is the number 5.

### In the corpora

- [Gerardus Mercator published his famous world map in 1569, and on it a straight line is a line of constant compass bearing.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/geography/3-projections-why-greenland-looks-huge/6/)

### Trees and pragmatics

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