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# piranha

noun (a piranha, piranhas)

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

## Everyday

1. A piranha is a South American river fish with very sharp, triangle-shaped teeth that eats meat as well as plants and fruit. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/piranha/#m1)
2. (informal) A piranha can describe a fierce, greedy person who attacks others to get what they want. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/piranha/#m2)

### In the lessons

In science and geography lessons about the Amazon river, piranhas show food chains: they eat fish, insects, seeds and dead animals, and are eaten by river dolphins, caimans and birds. They swim in groups. Films show them as man-eaters, but real attacks on people are rare and usually just bites. Phrases: «a shoal of piranhas», «razor-sharp teeth», «a feeding frenzy».

### Examples

- Piranhas live in the Amazon River. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/piranha/#x1)
- A piranha's teeth fit together like scissors. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/piranha/#x2)
- The fishermen pulled a piranha out of the river. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/piranha/#x3)
- Piranhas usually swim in shoals for safety. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/piranha/#x4)
- Some piranhas eat mostly seeds and fruit. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/piranha/#x5)
- In the film the piranhas ate everything in seconds, but that is not true to life. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/piranha/#x6)
- The reporters were like piranhas, all shouting questions at once. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/piranha/#x7)

### Note

Plural «piranhas». Say pi-RAH-na (some say pi-RAN-ya). Myth: piranhas do not usually strip people to the bone; that idea comes from films and old stories.

## On Mova

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