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# platypus

noun (platypus, platypuses)

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

## Everyday

A platypus is an unusual animal from eastern Australia with a duck-like bill, webbed feet, thick fur and a flat tail like a beaver's, which lays eggs. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/platypus/#m1)

### In the lessons

In science lessons the platypus is a mammal that lays eggs (a monotreme), like the echidna; the mother feeds the babies with milk. It hunts underwater with its eyes closed, finding food by sensing electricity with its bill. The male has a poisonous spur on its back legs. In geography it lives in rivers in eastern Australia and Tasmania. Phrases: duck-billed platypus.

### Examples

- The platypus lives in Australia. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/platypus/#x1)
- A platypus is a mammal that lays eggs. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/platypus/#x2)
- The platypus has a bill like a duck. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/platypus/#x3)
- Platypuses hunt underwater with their eyes shut. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/platypus/#x4)
- The male platypus has a poisonous spur. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/platypus/#x5)
- When scientists first saw a platypus, they thought it was a joke. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/platypus/#x6)

### Note

Plural: platypuses (not «platypi»). Trap for sorting tasks: it lays eggs but is still a mammal, because it has fur and feeds its young on milk. Not a bird, even with a bill.

## On Mova

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