island
- 01 A1 Beginner
n.a piece of land that has water all around it.
n.a contiguous area of land, smaller than a continent, completely surrounded by water.
Simple“We took a small boat to the island for a picnic on the beach.”
In context“The archipelago consists of several inhabited islands and dozens of smaller rocky outcrops that are home only to seabirds.”
- 02 B1 Intermediate
n.a kitchen table or counter that is in the middle of the room and not touching any walls.
n.a freestanding kitchen cupboard or countertop unit positioned to allow access from all sides.
Simple“The kids sat at the kitchen island to eat their breakfast.”
In context“When designing the open-plan space, the architect insisted on a large marble island to serve as both a preparation area and an informal dining spot.”
- 03 B2 Upper Intermediate
n.a raised area in the middle of a road where people can stand safely while crossing.
n.a raised or marked area within a roadway designed to guide traffic or provide a pedestrian refuge.
Simple“Wait on the traffic island until the cars on the other side have stopped.”
In context“The city council installed several pedestrian islands along the boulevard to reduce the distance walkers had to travel across active lanes.”
Teacher's tipIn some British dialects, particularly in the West Midlands, this word is also used to mean a roundabout.
- 04 C2 Proficiency
n.a part of a sentence that you cannot move certain words out of.
n.a syntactic structure from which a constituent cannot be moved or extracted without violating grammatical rules.
Simple“The student struggled to understand why that specific phrase was considered an island.”
In context“The researcher argued that the relative clause formed a strong island, preventing the extraction of the interrogative pronoun.”
Teacher's tipThis is a specialized term in generative linguistics; most learners will only encounter it in advanced grammar theory.
- 05 C2 Proficiency
v.to make something separate or surround it with something else.
v.to cause to become an island or to isolate as if on an island.
Simple“The rising flood waters began to island the farmhouse from the rest of the village.”
In context“The new highway threatened to island the historic district, cutting it off from the pedestrian traffic of the city center.”
Usage islands bbc · island chain · island locations