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# phytoplankton

noun (phytoplankton — usually uncountable, plural meaning)

«phytoplankton» in the English dictionary: everyday — its meanings, how the lessons use it, and examples, each with its tree on Mova.

## Everyday

Phytoplankton are tiny living things, mostly too small to see, that float near the surface of seas and lakes and make their own food from sunlight, like plants do. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/phytoplankton/#m1)

### In the lessons

In science lessons on food chains and the ocean, phytoplankton are producers: they are eaten by zooplankton, which are eaten by fish, and so on up to whales. They make a large part of the oxygen we breathe, perhaps about half. Satellites can see big green «blooms» of phytoplankton from space. Common phrases: «phytoplankton bloom», «marine phytoplankton», «phytoplankton and zooplankton».

### Examples

- Phytoplankton float near the surface of the sea. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/phytoplankton/#x1)
- Phytoplankton use sunlight to make food, just like plants. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/phytoplankton/#x2)
- Tiny animals called zooplankton eat phytoplankton. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/phytoplankton/#x3)
- Ocean phytoplankton make about half of the Earth's oxygen. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/phytoplankton/#x4)
- A phytoplankton bloom turned the sea green. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/phytoplankton/#x5)
- Krill feed on phytoplankton, and whales eat krill. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/phytoplankton/#x6)
- Without phytoplankton, ocean food chains would collapse. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/phytoplankton/#x7)

### Note

Usually used like a plural or uncountable noun («phytoplankton are» or «phytoplankton is»). Say FIE-toe-PLANK-ton. «Phyto-» means plant; «zoo-» means animal; «plankton» means drifting. Trap: many phytoplankton are not true plants, but they live like plants.

## On Mova

- [Trees and pragmatics of «phytoplankton» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/phytoplankton/): every meaning and example parsed by Mova, with its dependency tree and frames.
- [«phytoplankton» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/w/phytoplankton.html) on Mova free.