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# courtship

«courtship» in Mova's school dictionary: **Special behaviour that animals use to attract a mate…** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples.

### part of speech

noun (courtship, courtships; also uncountable)

### meaning for a pupil

1) (science) Special behaviour that animals use to attract a mate, such as dancing, singing, showing off bright feathers or bringing gifts: «the courtship dance of the peacock». [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/courtship/#m1)

2) (old-fashioned) The time when two people are getting to know each other romantically before getting married. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/courtship/#m2)

3) (formal) Trying hard to win someone's support or favour: «the company's courtship of new customers». [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/courtship/#m3)

### sense in the lessons

In science lessons on animal behaviour and life cycles, courtship comes before mating: male peacocks spread their tails, bowerbirds decorate nests, birds sing, and penguins give pebbles. In older novels and history, couples have a «courtship» with walks and visits before marriage. Phrases: «courtship display», «courtship dance», «courtship ritual».

### examples

- The peacock spreads its tail in a courtship display. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/courtship/#x1)
- Male birds sing in spring as part of courtship. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/courtship/#x2)
- Some penguins give a pebble as a courtship gift. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/courtship/#x3)
- In the old novel, their courtship lasted three years. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/courtship/#x4)
- Bowerbirds decorate their bowers with blue things during courtship. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/courtship/#x5)
- Great crested grebes do a famous courtship dance on the water. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/courtship/#x6)
- Scientists filmed the frogs' courtship calls at night. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/courtship/#x7)
- This was his courtship, and it lasted all through the summer. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/courtship/#x8)

### note

Uncountable in general (animal courtship), countable for one relationship (a long courtship). The old-fashioned verb «court» means to try to win someone's love («He courted her for a year»). Not connected to the meaning «law court».

### Trees and pragmatics

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