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# silk

«silk» in Mova's school dictionary: **A soft, smooth, shiny cloth made from threads spun by…** — 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

noun (silk — uncountable; a silk, silks — for kinds or garments); adjective (silk, silky)

### meaning for a pupil

1) A soft, smooth, shiny cloth made from threads spun by silkworms. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/silk/#m1)

2) The thread itself, made by silkworms or spiders. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/silk/#m2)

3) (UK, informal) A senior barrister; to «take silk» means to become one. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/silk/#m3)

### sense in the lessons

In science lessons, silkworms (caterpillars of a moth) spin cocoons of silk, and spiders make silk for webs. In history, the Silk Road was a long trade route between China and Europe. In everyday life silk scarves, ties and pyjamas feel smooth. Phrases: smooth as silk, silk scarf, the Silk Road.

### examples

- Her dress is made of silk. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/silk/#x1)
- Silkworms spin silk to make their cocoons. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/silk/#x2)
- Spider silk is very strong for its weight. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/silk/#x3)
- Traders carried silk along the Silk Road. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/silk/#x4)
- The scarf felt smooth as silk. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/silk/#x5)
- Dad wore a silk tie to the wedding. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/silk/#x6)
- She wore a silk dress, golden bracelets, and large amber beads. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/silk/#x7)

### note

Usually uncountable: some silk, a piece of silk. Silky means soft and smooth like silk, even if not made of it.

### In the corpora

- [The diving bell spider of European ponds lives underwater in a silk tent filled with air from the surface.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/38-spiders-scorpions-and-eight-legged-creatures/18/)
- [Spiders make silk in glands in the abdomen and pull it out through spinnerets at the back end, not from wrists or legs.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/147-spider-man-real-spider-silk-and-webs/4/)
- [Jumping spiders leap many times their body length by pushing blood into their back legs, and tie on a silk safety line first.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/148-spider-man-real-spider-senses-climbing-and-bites/9/)
- [A moth's caterpillar often makes a silk cocoon before it changes, but a butterfly's caterpillar makes a bare chrysalis.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/219-butterflies-moths-and-ladybirds/17/)
- [Many spiders eat their old web before building a new one, to reuse the protein in the silk.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/220-spiders-and-other-minibeasts-under-logs-and-stones/7/)

### Trees and pragmatics

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