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# lightly

«lightly» in Mova's school dictionary: **with little force or weight: «tap lightly»** — 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

adverb

### meaning for a pupil

1) Lightly means with little force or weight: «tap lightly». [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/L/lightly/#m1)

2) A little: «lightly salted», «lightly cooked». [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/L/lightly/#m2)

3) Without being serious or worried: «take something lightly». [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/L/lightly/#m3)

4) Not much: «sleep lightly». [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/L/lightly/#m4)

### sense in the lessons

Used in recipes («lightly beat the eggs»), safety warnings («don't take this lightly»), everyday life and stories. Phrases: «take lightly», «get off lightly» (have a small punishment), «tread lightly».

### examples

- Lightly tap the glass with a spoon. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/L/lightly/#x1)
- Lightly grease the tin before baking. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/L/lightly/#x2)
- Snow fell lightly all night. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/L/lightly/#x3)
- Don't take fire safety lightly. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/L/lightly/#x4)
- He got off lightly with a warning. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/L/lightly/#x5)
- Dad sleeps lightly and hears every noise. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/L/lightly/#x6)
- How lightly, quickly, nimbly, wonderfully, she moved! [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/L/lightly/#x7)

### note

Adverb of «light». Opposite: heavily. «Get off lightly» = escape with a small punishment.

### In the corpora

- [Small shakes are normal; artists draw lightly with many strokes from the shoulder and elbow, then darken the line they like.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/arts/12-drawing-lines-shapes-and-drawing-what-you-really-see/17/)
- [I had forgotten all about them,» says Toad lightly about Mole and Badger.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/67-willows-ch11-part3-badger-and-mole-come-home/1/)
- ["Cheeky" means rude or disrespectful, often said lightly (UK).](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/euphemisms/15-behaviour-and-school-reports/13/)
- [They have healed also the hurt of My people lightly, saying: 'Peace, peace', when there is no peace.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/neviim/jps/JER.183/)

### Trees and pragmatics

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