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# sperm

«sperm» in Mova's school dictionary: **a tiny male cell made by male animals and men; when a…** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 2 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

### part of speech

noun (sperm, sperms; a sperm cell)

### meaning for a pupil

1) A sperm is a tiny male cell made by male animals and men; when a sperm joins with an egg cell from a female, a new baby animal or baby human can start to grow. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/sperm/#m1)

2) In plants, the male cells that join with egg cells are carried in pollen. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/sperm/#m2)

### sense in the lessons

In science lessons sperm comes up in life cycles and reproduction: sperm and egg join (fertilisation), and the new living thing gets half its DNA from each parent. Fish and frogs often release eggs and sperm into water; in mammals, including humans, the baby grows inside the mother. Pupils learn this as respectful, plain science. The «sperm whale» is named after the waxy stuff in its head that people long ago wrongly thought was sperm.

### examples

- A baby starts when a sperm and an egg join. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/sperm/#x1)
- A sperm cell has a long tail to help it swim. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/sperm/#x2)
- Half of your DNA came from the sperm and half from the egg. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/sperm/#x3)
- Frogs release eggs and sperm into the pond. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/sperm/#x4)
- Sperm are much too small to see without a microscope. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/sperm/#x5)
- The sperm whale is the largest toothed whale. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/sperm/#x6)

### note

Plural «sperm» or «sperms»; «a sperm cell» is clear and polite. It is a proper science word, not a rude one. Trap: the sperm whale's name comes from an old mistake and has nothing to do with sperm cells.

### In the corpora

- [Sperm whales dive deep to hunt giant squid, and many sperm whales carry round scars left by the squid's suckers.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/39-octopuses-squid-and-cuttlefish/15/)
- [Sperm whales hunt squid more than a kilometre down in total darkness with clicks that are among the loudest sounds any animal makes.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/230-echolocation-in-the-sea-and-in-people-dolphins-whales-swiftlets-and-clicking-humans/6/)

### Trees and pragmatics

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