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# nocturnal

«nocturnal» in Mova's school dictionary: **active at night and sleep during the day** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples.

### part of speech

adjective (nocturnal; nocturnally adv.)

### meaning for a pupil

1) (science) Nocturnal animals are active at night and sleep during the day. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/N/nocturnal/#m1)

2) Happening at night: a nocturnal walk, nocturnal noises. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/N/nocturnal/#m2)

### sense in the lessons

In science lessons: nocturnal animals like owls, bats, hedgehogs, foxes, badgers and possums have special senses for the dark. Opposite: diurnal (active in the day). In stories: nocturnal adventures.

### examples

- Owls are nocturnal birds. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/N/nocturnal/#x1)
- Hedgehogs are nocturnal, so you see them at night. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/N/nocturnal/#x2)
- Bats use sound to find food on their nocturnal flights. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/N/nocturnal/#x3)
- Possums in Australia are nocturnal. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/N/nocturnal/#x4)
- Our hamster is nocturnal and runs on its wheel all night. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/N/nocturnal/#x5)
- We went on a nocturnal walk to see the stars. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/N/nocturnal/#x6)
- Many desert animals are nocturnal to avoid the heat. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/N/nocturnal/#x7)

### note

Opposite: diurnal (active by day); crepuscular means active at dawn and dusk. From Latin «nox» (night). Trap: not all animals that come out at night are fully nocturnal.

### Trees and pragmatics

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