Background for islands

islands

/ˈaɪləndz/

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noun

A contiguous area of land, smaller than a continent, totally surrounded by water.

Examples :

"We took a boat trip to visit some small islands off the coast. "

geography world area

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noun

An entity surrounded by other entities that are very different from itself.

Examples :

"The quiet study group was an island of focus amidst the noisy, distracted classroom. "

geography world

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noun

A superstructure on an aircraft carrier's deck.

Examples :

"The pilot carefully landed the plane on the aircraft carrier's islands. "

nautical military vehicle technology part structure

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noun

A traffic island.

Examples :

"the island in the middle of a roundabout"

traffic area place

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noun

An unincorporated area wholly surrounded by one or more incorporated areas.

Examples :

"The map showed several unincorporated islands of land completely surrounded by the city of Springfield. "

area geography politics government

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noun

(grammar) A phrase from which a wh-word cannot be extracted without yielding invalid grammar.

Examples :

"The phrase "the student who I suspect studies islands of algebra" forms an island because you can't easily extract "which islands" without creating an ungrammatical sentence like "Which islands do I suspect the student who studies?". "

grammar linguistics

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verb

To surround with water; make into an island.

Examples :

"The rising floodwaters threatened to island the houses closest to the river. "

geography environment

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verb

To set, dot (as if) with islands.

Examples :

"The artist used white paint to islands the blue canvas with small, abstract shapes. "

geography world nature

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verb

Examples :

"The strict rules of the new school isolated the students, islands of quiet contemplation surrounded by the bustling halls. "

environment world geography