nutcracker

Everyday

1. A tool for cracking the hard shells of nuts. tree →
2. A wooden doll shaped like a soldier whose jaw cracks nuts, popular at Christmas. tree →
3. «The Nutcracker»: a famous Christmas ballet with music by Tchaikovsky. tree →
4. A bird of the crow family that eats nuts and seeds. tree →

In the lessons

In everyday life nutcrackers come out at Christmas with bowls of nuts. In music lessons «The Nutcracker» ballet and its «Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy» are often studied. In science, a nutcracker is a simple machine — a lever. Phrases: «a pair of nutcrackers», «The Nutcracker Suite».

Examples

• Pass me the nutcracker so I can open this walnut. tree →
• We went to see «The Nutcracker» ballet at Christmas. tree →
• A wooden nutcracker soldier stood on the shelf. tree →
• A nutcracker is a type of lever. tree →
• The Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy comes from «The Nutcracker». tree →
• The nutcracker bird hides seeds for winter. tree →

Note

UK often says «nutcrackers» or «a pair of nutcrackers» for the tool. One word. In maths and science it is a lever with the load between the pivot and the hand.