gill

Everyday

1. Gills are the body parts that fish and some other water animals use to breathe; they take oxygen from the water. tree →
2. Gills are also the thin lines under the cap of a mushroom. tree →
3. (old, informal) Gills can also mean a person's cheeks or face, as in "pale to the gills", meaning very pale with fear. tree →

In the lessons

In science, fish, tadpoles, crabs and sharks breathe with gills, while whales and dolphins are mammals that breathe air with lungs. Water goes in through the mouth and out over the gills. Phrases: breathe through gills, green around the gills (looking sick).

Examples

• Fish breathe through their gills. tree →
• Tadpoles have gills, but frogs have lungs. tree →
• The shark's gills look like slits. tree →
• Whales do not have gills. tree →
• Look at the gills under the mushroom cap. tree →
• Water flows over the gills to give oxygen. tree →
• After the boat ride he looked green around the gills. tree →
• A fish out of water cannot breathe with its gills. tree →
• In that supreme moment Hook did not blanch, even at the gills, but Smee and Starkey clung to each other in terror. tree →

Note

Usually plural: gills. Pronounced with a hard g, like «girl». A measure called a gill (with a soft g, «jill») is an old unit of liquid, rarely used. Trap: dolphins and whales have no gills.