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# urchin

«urchin» in Mova's school dictionary: **a small, round sea animal with a hard shell covered in…** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 4 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

### part of speech

noun (an urchin, urchins)

### meaning for a pupil

1) An urchin (sea urchin) is a small, round sea animal with a hard shell covered in sharp spines, which lives on the sea floor and rock pools. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/U/urchin/#m1)

2) In old stories, an urchin is a poor, dirty, often cheeky child who lives on the streets. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/U/urchin/#m2)

### sense in the lessons

In science sea urchins appear in lessons about the seashore, rock pools and ocean food chains; they eat seaweed and are eaten by sea otters and fish. In beach safety, stepping on an urchin's spines hurts, so wear water shoes on rocks. In stories like those by Charles Dickens, street urchins are poor children in old cities. Phrases: «sea urchin», «street urchin».

### examples

- I saw a purple sea urchin in the rock pool. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/U/urchin/#x1)
- Wear water shoes so you don't step on a sea urchin. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/U/urchin/#x2)
- Sea otters crack open urchins to eat them. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/U/urchin/#x3)
- The urchin's spines are very sharp. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/U/urchin/#x4)
- In the old story, a street urchin stole a loaf of bread. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/U/urchin/#x5)
- Sea urchins move slowly on tiny tube feet. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/U/urchin/#x6)
- Too many urchins can eat a whole kelp forest. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/U/urchin/#x7)
- The cheeky urchin ran off laughing. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/U/urchin/#x8)
- One day two street-urchins were playing and wading in the gutter, picking up old nails, pennies, and such things. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/U/urchin/#x9)

### note

Countable: «an urchin» (use «an» because it starts with a vowel sound). Its old meaning was «hedgehog», which is why the spiny sea animal got the name. The «street urchin» sense is old-fashioned.

### In the corpora

- [Sea urchins are covered with movable spines that point towards a threat, and their mouth underneath has five teeth called Aristotle's lantern.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/248-defences-skunks-porcupines-hedgehogs-and-armour/11/)
- [Sea otters, sea urchins and kelp are another trophic cascade.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/283-wolves-in-yellowstone-beavers-in-britain-and-bringing-nature-back/8/)
- [Sea otters protect kelp forests by eating the sea urchins that eat kelp.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/world/30-balance-in-food-webs/15/)
- [Even urchins despised me; if I arise, they speak against me.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/ketuvim/jps/JOB.484/)

### Trees and pragmatics

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