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# momma

«momma» in Mova's school dictionary: **Mom; a child's word for their mother** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples.

### part of speech

noun (momma, mommas)

### meaning for a pupil

1) (informal, mainly US) Mom; a child's word for their mother. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/momma/#m1)

2) (informal, mainly US) Any mother, including an animal mother, as in "the momma bear". [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/momma/#m2)

3) (slang, US) Used in jokes beginning "Yo momma…", which tease someone about their mother. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/momma/#m3)

### sense in the lessons

A warm, homely word heard in American stories, songs and films; it tells the reader the speaker is close to their mother or is from the southern USA. In science and nature talk, "momma bird" or "momma cat" simply means the mother animal. Phrases: "momma bear", "momma's boy" (a boy who relies on his mother a lot), "Yo momma" jokes (often unkind).

### examples

- Momma, can I have a snack? [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/momma/#x1)
- My momma picks me up from school on Fridays. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/momma/#x2)
- The momma bird brought worms back to the nest. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/momma/#x3)
- Don't go near the cubs, the momma bear will be close by. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/momma/#x4)
- She sang the song her momma used to sing. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/momma/#x5)
- He's a real momma's boy, he phones her every day. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/momma/#x6)
- "Momma said there'd be days like this," Grandpa laughed. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/momma/#x7)

### note

Informal; in writing for school use "mother" or "Mom" (US) / "Mum" (UK). Spellings vary: momma, mama, mamma; in the UK, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand people say "mum" or "mam". Capital M when used as a name: "Thanks, Momma." "Yo momma" jokes can be hurtful.

### Trees and pragmatics

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