LESSON

Pronunciation (US):

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IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does lesson mean? 

• LESSON (noun)
  The noun LESSON has 4 senses:

1. a unit of instruction

2. punishment intended as a warning to others

3. the significance of a story or event

4. a task assigned for individual study

  Familiarity information: LESSON used as a noun is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• LESSON (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A unit of instruction

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Context example:

he took driving lessons

Hypernyms ("lesson" is a kind of...):

instruction; pedagogy; teaching (the profession of a teacher)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "lesson"):

language lesson (a period of instruction learning a language)

dance lesson (a lesson in dancing)

music lesson (a lesson in performing music)

tennis lesson (a lesson in playing tennis)

golf lesson (a lesson in playing golf)

Holonyms ("lesson" is a part of...):

class; course; course of instruction; course of study (education imparted in a series of lessons or meetings)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Punishment intended as a warning to others

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Synonyms:

deterrent example; example; lesson; object lesson

Context example:

they decided to make an example of him

Hypernyms ("lesson" is a kind of...):

admonition; monition; warning; word of advice (cautionary advice about something imminent (especially imminent danger or other unpleasantness))

Sense 3

Meaning:

The significance of a story or event

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Synonyms:

lesson; moral

Context example:

the moral of the story is to love thy neighbor

Hypernyms ("lesson" is a kind of...):

import; meaning; significance; signification (the message that is intended or expressed or signified)

Sense 4

Meaning:

A task assigned for individual study

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Context example:

he did the lesson for today

Hypernyms ("lesson" is a kind of...):

school assignment; schoolwork (a school task performed by a student to satisfy the teacher)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "lesson"):

example; exercise (a task performed or problem solved in order to develop skill or understanding)

reading assignment (the reading of a passage assigned by the teacher)

history lesson (a lesson in the facts of history)

Holonyms ("lesson" is a part of...):

didactics; education; educational activity; instruction; pedagogy; teaching (the activities of educating or instructing; activities that impart knowledge or skill)

 Context examples 

I felt so rich, so happy thinking of my blessings, that I made him a nice bundle, gave him some money, and thanked him heartily for the lesson he had taught me.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

I suppose it is one of the lessons that we poor women have to learn....

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

“Oh, he’ll heave to in a little while and pick them up,” I answered cheerfully. “He’s bent upon giving them a lesson, that’s all.”

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

We all learn by experience, and your lesson this time is that you should never lose sight of the alternative.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Such was the lesson that was quickly borne in upon him.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

He knows his lesson, or he does not know it.”

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

He had never seen dogs fight as these wolfish creatures fought, and his first experience taught him an unforgetable lesson.

(The Call of the Wild, by Jack London)

I observed you in your class this morning, and saw you were closely attentive: your thoughts never seemed to wander while Miss Miller explained the lesson and questioned you.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

Such were the lessons of my father.

(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)

“Here is another lesson to say nothing,” said he.

(The Strange Case Of Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde, by Robert Louis Stevenson)