cinderella
proper noun (Cinderella — a story character); noun (a Cinderella — something or someone ignored, figurative)
Everyday
- Cinderella is the girl in a famous fairy tale who is treated badly by her stepmother and stepsisters, goes to the prince's ball with help from her fairy godmother, loses a glass slipper and marries the prince. tree →
- (figurative) A Cinderella is a person or thing that is ignored or treated as less important but deserves more attention. tree →
- (sport) A Cinderella story is when a small, unexpected team or person does very well. tree →
In the lessons
In English lessons Cinderella is a classic fairy tale told in many countries (versions by Charles Perrault and the Brothers Grimm, and very old ones from China and Egypt). At Christmas it is a favourite UK pantomime. Figuratively, news writers say a subject is «the Cinderella of the school curriculum». Phrases: Cinderella story, be home by midnight like Cinderella.
Examples
- Cinderella's fairy godmother turned a pumpkin into a coach. tree →
- At midnight Cinderella ran away and lost her glass slipper. tree →
- We saw Cinderella as a pantomime at Christmas. tree →
- The little village team had a Cinderella run to the final. tree →
- Music is often the Cinderella subject at some schools. tree →
- «Be home by midnight, Cinderella!» joked Dad. tree →
- There are hundreds of versions of the Cinderella story around the world. tree →
- “Y--es,” cried Cinderella, with a great sigh. tree →
Note
Capital C for the character. The name means «little cinder girl», because she slept in the ashes by the fire. Not used in maths.
On Mova
- Trees and pragmatics of «cinderella» in the school dictionary: every meaning and example parsed by Mova, with its dependency tree and frames.
- «cinderella» in the school dictionary on Mova free.
This page in Markdown → https://md.dictionary.elamur.ai/free/en/english/cinderella/