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# poor

«poor» in Mova's school dictionary: **having very little money and few things, so that it is…** — 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

adjective (poor, poorer, poorest); noun (the poor — poor people as a group)

### meaning for a pupil

1) Poor means having very little money and few things, so that it is hard to pay for food, a home or clothes. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/poor/#m1)

2) Poor means not good enough, low in quality: poor work, poor light, poor health. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/poor/#m2)

3) We say «poor» when we feel sorry for someone: «Poor puppy, it is cold.» [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/poor/#m3)

4) Poor at something means not skilled at it. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/poor/#m4)

### sense in the lessons

In everyday life and stories it tells the reader that someone has little money or that something went badly; in stories «poor» before a name shows the narrator feels sorry for that character. In science, «poor» describes weak results: a poor conductor of heat lets little heat through. Common phrases: poor thing, poor health, poor eyesight, poor weather, a poor mark, poor at spelling, the rich and the poor.

### examples

- The family was too poor to buy a car, so they took the bus. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/poor/#x1)
- My handwriting is poor when I write too fast. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/poor/#x2)
- Poor Max fell off his bike and scraped his knee. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/poor/#x3)
- Wood is a poor conductor of heat, so the spoon handle stays cool. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/poor/#x4)
- The light was too poor to read by, so I switched on the lamp. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/poor/#x5)
- I am poor at catching but good at running. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/poor/#x6)
- Charities collect food for poor families at Christmas. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/poor/#x7)
- The plants grew badly in the poor, dry soil. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/poor/#x8)
- "Poor little fellow!" said Mr. Fitz-war-ren. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/poor/#x9)

### note

Adjective: poor, poorer, poorest. «The poor» means poor people in general and takes a plural verb: «The poor need help.» Do not confuse with «pour» (to tip liquid out) and «pore» (a tiny hole in skin, or to study closely) — they can sound the same. Poor (sorry for) does not mean the person has no money: «Poor Gran has a cold.» Opposite of the money sense: rich; of the quality sense: good.

### In the corpora

- [If prices rise and pay doesn't, a person is really getting poorer each year.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/adult-life/3-finding-a-job-and-getting-on/13/)
- [To help someone with poor hearing, face them and speak clearly, without shouting.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/adult-life/22-sore-backs-glasses-and-feeling-low/10/)
- [A big body keeps heat in, can live on poor food like twigs and is hard for predators to kill.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/384-mammal-giants-of-the-past-paraceratherium-diprotodon-the-giant-beaver-and-gigantopithecus/3/)
- [Sleeping a lot saves energy when food is poor or comes only at certain times.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/390-how-animals-sleep-half-asleep-dolphins-standing-horses-short-sleeping-giraffes-and-birds-that-nap-in-the-air/17/)
- [O my poor shin!»; the Rat tied it up with his handkerchief.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/36-willows-ch3-part4-the-door-scraper/15/)

### Trees and pragmatics

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