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# fossa

«fossa» in Mova's school dictionary: **a slim, cat-like meat-eating animal that lives only in…** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples.

### part of speech

noun (a fossa, fossas; anatomy plural fossae)

### meaning for a pupil

1) A fossa is a slim, cat-like meat-eating animal that lives only in Madagascar, the island's top predator. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/F/fossa/#m1)

2) In anatomy, a fossa is a small hollow or dip in a bone or the body. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/F/fossa/#m2)

### sense in the lessons

In science, the fossa hunts lemurs and climbs trees using its long tail for balance; it appears in the film «Madagascar». It is related to mongooses, not cats.

### examples

- The fossa leapt through the trees after a lemur. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/F/fossa/#x1)
- Fossas live only in Madagascar. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/F/fossa/#x2)
- A fossa looks like a cat but isn't one. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/F/fossa/#x3)
- Its long tail helps it balance on branches. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/F/fossa/#x4)
- The doctor pointed to a small fossa in the skull bone. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/F/fossa/#x5)
- The fossa is the largest predator on Madagascar. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/F/fossa/#x6)

### note

Pronounced «FOSS-uh». Not related to «fossil», though both come from Latin «fodere», to dig.

### Trees and pragmatics

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