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# termite

«termite» in Mova's school dictionary: **A small, pale insect that lives in large groups called…** — 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 (a termite, termites)

### meaning for a pupil

A small, pale insect that lives in large groups called colonies, eats wood, and builds big nests or mounds. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/termite/#m1)

### sense in the lessons

In science lessons termites are social insects with a queen, workers and soldiers. Their mounds in Africa and Australia can be taller than a person and have clever air channels. In everyday life, termites can damage wooden houses, so people check for them. Phrases: «termite mound», «termite colony», «termite damage».

### examples

- Termites live in huge colonies. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/termite/#x1)
- We saw tall termite mounds in Australia. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/termite/#x2)
- Termites ate the wooden steps of the old house. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/termite/#x3)
- A termite colony has a queen, workers and soldiers. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/termite/#x4)
- Some animals, like echidnas and aardvarks, eat termites. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/termite/#x5)
- The pest controller checked the house for termites. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/termite/#x6)
- Termite mounds stay cool inside because of air tunnels. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/termite/#x7)

### note

Countable. Myth trap: termites are often called «white ants», but they are not ants; they are more closely related to cockroaches. Termites have six legs, like all insects.

### In the corpora

- [The didgeridoo comes from Aboriginal Australians of northern Australia, traditionally made from a branch hollowed by termites; skilled players use circular breathing.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/arts/10-instruments-of-the-world-bandura-erhu-sitar-kora-didgeridoo/10/)
- [An echidna has no teeth and catches ants and termites with a long sticky tongue after breaking into their nests with strong claws.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/43-platypus-and-echidna/13/)
- [Wild chimpanzees make tools: they fish for termites with stripped twigs, crack nuts with stones and use leaves as sponges.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/84-ape-house-gorillas-and-chimpanzees/7/)
- [Giant anteaters walk on their knuckles to protect long front claws, which rip open hard termite mounds and can fight off a jaguar.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/108-the-south-american-area-sloths-anteaters-piranhas-giant-otters/8/)
- [Hyenas look like dogs but are more closely related to cats and mongooses; the aardwolf is a small hyena that eats mostly termites.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/126-the-lion-king-hyenas-rafiki-and-zazu/9/)

### Trees and pragmatics

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