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# tapir

«tapir» in Mova's school dictionary: **a large, plant-eating animal shaped a bit like a pig…** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples.

### part of speech

noun (a tapir, tapirs)

### meaning for a pupil

1) A tapir is a large, plant-eating animal shaped a bit like a pig, with a short, bendy nose (snout) like a tiny trunk. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/tapir/#m1)

2) Tapirs live in forests of Central and South America and South-East Asia, and are good swimmers. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/tapir/#m2)

### sense in the lessons

In science lessons, the tapir is an example of a rainforest herbivore; baby tapirs have stripes and spots for camouflage that fade as they grow. The Malayan tapir is black with a white middle, like a blanket. Tapirs are endangered because forests are cut down. Their nearest relatives are horses and rhinos, not pigs. Phrases: «baby tapir», «Malayan tapir», «a tapir's snout».

### examples

- A tapir uses its bendy snout to grab leaves. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/tapir/#x1)
- Baby tapirs have stripes like a watermelon. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/tapir/#x2)
- The tapir hid in the river to escape the jaguar. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/tapir/#x3)
- Tapirs are related to horses and rhinos. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/tapir/#x4)
- The Malayan tapir is black and white. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/tapir/#x5)
- Tapirs are in danger because the rainforest is shrinking. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/tapir/#x6)
- Then there is the story of how the tortoise pretended that he was stronger than the tapir. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/tapir/#x7)

### note

Plural: «tapirs». Say it "TAY-per" (UK and US) or "ta-PEER". Trap: it looks like a pig but is not related to pigs. Spelled with -ir.

### Trees and pragmatics

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