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# stimulus

«stimulus» in Mova's school dictionary: **something that causes a living thing to react, such as…** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples.

### part of speech

noun (a stimulus, stimuli)

### meaning for a pupil

1) A stimulus is something that causes a living thing to react, such as light, sound, heat or touch. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/stimulus/#m1)

2) A stimulus is something that encourages activity or growth, such as a reward or extra money. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/stimulus/#m2)

3) (money) A stimulus is money a government spends to help the economy grow, such as stimulus payments. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/stimulus/#m3)

### sense in the lessons

In science lessons on senses and the nervous system, a stimulus is detected by a sense organ and causes a response: touching something hot (stimulus) makes you pull your hand away (response). Plants respond to stimuli too: shoots grow towards light. Phrases: «stimulus and response», «respond to a stimulus», «a stimulus package».

### examples

- A bright light is a stimulus that makes your pupils shrink. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/stimulus/#x1)
- The bell was a stimulus that made the dogs expect food. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/stimulus/#x2)
- Plants grow towards the stimulus of light. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/stimulus/#x3)
- Touching a hot pan is a stimulus; pulling your hand away is the response. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/stimulus/#x4)
- The prize was a stimulus to work harder. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/stimulus/#x5)
- The government gave a stimulus payment to families. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/stimulus/#x6)
- Different stimuli make us react in different ways. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/stimulus/#x7)

### note

Plural: stimuli (said «STIM-you-lie»), not «stimuluses». Verb: stimulate. Do not confuse with «stimulant», which is a substance like caffeine that makes the body more active.

### Trees and pragmatics

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