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

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

# fossil

«fossil» in Mova's school dictionary: **the remains or shape of a plant or animal from very long…** — 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 (a fossil, fossils)

### meaning for a pupil

1) A fossil is the remains or shape of a plant or animal from very long ago, kept in rock. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/F/fossil/#m1)

2) Fossil fuels are coal, oil and gas, made from ancient living things. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/F/fossil/#m2)

3) Informally, an old fossil is a joking name for an old-fashioned person. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/F/fossil/#m3)

### sense in the lessons

In science lessons fossils show how living things have changed over millions of years and give evidence about dinosaurs; fossils form when remains are buried in mud that turns to rock. Phrases: «fossil fuels», «dinosaur fossil», «fossil hunting».

### examples

- We found a fossil of a shell on the beach. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/F/fossil/#x1)
- Fossils tell us what dinosaurs looked like. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/F/fossil/#x2)
- Mary Anning was a famous fossil hunter. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/F/fossil/#x3)
- Coal and oil are fossil fuels. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/F/fossil/#x4)
- The museum has a fossil of a huge fish. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/F/fossil/#x5)
- Fossils form very slowly over millions of years. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/F/fossil/#x6)
- Footprints can also become fossils. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/F/fossil/#x7)

### note

Countable. Double s. Verb: fossilise/fossilize. Trap: most fossils are not bones themselves but rock that has taken their shape. Burning fossil fuels adds carbon dioxide to the air.

### In the corpora

- [A shark's skeleton is made of cartilage, which is lighter and bendier than bone, so shark fossils are mostly teeth.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/28-sharks/6/)
- [Charles Darwin sailed around the world on the Beagle from 1831 to 1836, collecting animals, plants and fossils.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/264-how-scientists-find-out-naturalists-darwin-the-microscope-and-wildlife-filming/6/)
- [Trackways show some sauropods walked in groups, with young ones in the middle; footprints are trace fossils that show behaviour.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/266-the-long-necked-giants-sauropods/13/)
- [Some fossils catch a moment, such as a fish with another fish in its mouth, because fast burial froze the scene.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/275-fossils-how-a-living-thing-turns-to-stone-and-how-we-dig-it-up/15/)
- [If a fossil lies between two ash layers, one 67 and one 65 million years old, the animal lived in between.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/276-how-old-is-it-rock-layers-rock-clocks-amber-and-the-long-story-of-life/2/)

### Trees and pragmatics

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