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# holly

«holly» in Mova's school dictionary: **An evergreen bush or tree with shiny, prickly dark green…** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 4 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

### part of speech

noun (holly, hollies)

### meaning for a pupil

1) An evergreen bush or tree with shiny, prickly dark green leaves and bright red berries in winter. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/holly/#m1)

2) Its branches used to decorate homes and churches at Christmas. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/holly/#m2)

### sense in the lessons

In nature lessons it is an evergreen plant that keeps its leaves in winter; birds eat its berries. At Christmas it decorates houses, wreaths and cards; in the carol «The Holly and the Ivy» Christians link it to Jesus. Phrases: holly and ivy, a sprig of holly, holly berries, holly wreath.

### examples

- We decorated the front door with a holly wreath. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/holly/#x1)
- Holly leaves are shiny and prickly. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/holly/#x2)
- Birds eat the red holly berries in winter. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/holly/#x3)
- The carol «The Holly and the Ivy» is sung at Christmas. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/holly/#x4)
- Be careful picking holly; the leaves are sharp. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/holly/#x5)
- A sprig of holly sat on top of the Christmas pudding. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/holly/#x6)
- They sat down under a holly tree and both poured forth their woes. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/holly/#x7)

### note

Plural: hollies. Holly berries are poisonous to people; do not eat them. Also a girl's name (Holly). Do not confuse with «holy» (sacred), which has one l.

### In the corpora

- [Holly.» Nan smiles kindly, but doesn't know.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/514-dementia-and-the-first-death-in-the-family/2/)
- [Kids say Holly-Mae smells.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/524-wheres-your-dad-questions-and-cruel-jokes/26/)
- [Holly-Mae's friend Jodie brings a jumper in a carrier bag.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/525-friends-who-get-it/21/)
- [Holly, 140 cm, growing about 5 cm a year, needs 20 ÷ 5 = 4 years to reach 160 cm.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/world/128-growing-up-ages-dog-years/18/)

### Trees and pragmatics

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