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# wobbly

«wobbly» in Mova's school dictionary: **Something wobbly moves or shakes from side to side…** — 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

adjective (wobbly, wobblier, wobbliest); noun (throw a wobbly — informal, UK/Aus)

### meaning for a pupil

1) Something wobbly moves or shakes from side to side because it is not firm or steady: a wobbly table, a wobbly tooth. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/W/wobbly/#m1)

2) If your legs or voice are wobbly, they are shaky because you are tired, ill, scared or upset. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/W/wobbly/#m2)

3) A wobbly line is not straight or neat. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/W/wobbly/#m3)

4) (informal, UK, Australia, NZ) To throw a wobbly means to suddenly get very angry or upset. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/W/wobbly/#m4)

### sense in the lessons

In everyday life: wobbly teeth, wobbly chairs, wobbly jelly, wobbly first bike rides. In safety lessons a wobbly ladder or shelf is a danger sign. In stories, a character's wobbly voice shows they are nervous or about to cry. Phrases: «a wobbly tooth», «wobbly legs», «throw a wobbly».

### examples

- My front tooth is wobbly. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/W/wobbly/#x1)
- This table is wobbly, so put a book under the leg. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/W/wobbly/#x2)
- The jelly was red and wobbly. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/W/wobbly/#x3)
- Her legs felt wobbly after the long run. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/W/wobbly/#x4)
- His voice went wobbly when he said goodbye. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/W/wobbly/#x5)
- I rode my bike, but I was a bit wobbly at first. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/W/wobbly/#x6)
- Don't stand on that wobbly chair! [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/W/wobbly/#x7)
- My little brother threw a wobbly when the ice cream fell. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/W/wobbly/#x8)

### note

From the verb «wobble». Spelling: wobblier, wobbliest (y becomes i). Americans usually say «loose tooth» rather than «wobbly tooth». A wobbly ladder or chair is unsafe — tell an adult.

### In the corpora

- [An art teacher wants to see your own drawing, wobbly lines and all, not a traced copy.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/ai/11-school-rules-honesty-and-wrong-accusations/11/)
- [Most people will not notice one wobbly line, and you can draw over it; sketchbooks are full of wobbly lines.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/arts/12-drawing-lines-shapes-and-drawing-what-you-really-see/14/)
- [Macadamia nuts can make dogs weak, wobbly and sick for a day or two, and nobody knows exactly why.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/331-foods-that-are-dangerous-for-pets-chocolate-grapes-onions-and-lilies/14/)
- [In spring a mallard mother marches a wobbly line of ducklings across the path while a swan hisses at anyone near its nest.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/337-the-park-pond-through-the-year-ducks-coots-swans-dragonflies-and-ice/1/)
- [Giving a talk is a skill, like riding a bike: wobbly at first, smoother with every practice.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/english/48-spoken-language-presenting-and-show-and-tell/0/)

### Trees and pragmatics

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