St Bernard
- noun
- /seɪnt bərˈnɑrd/
:
San Bernardo
- I want you to picture a big, furry St Bernard curled up by the fireplace.
Examples
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- No, no, we're-- we're gonna stick with the St Bernard.
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St Bernard.
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St Bernard.
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St Bernard.
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I don't think they're horses at all, but St Bernards in disguise rescuing travelers who are stranded at the crossroads.
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A St Bernard is often used in rescue missions, helping lost hikers find their way back to safety.
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The large, friendly St Bernard happily greeted the children with its wagging tail.
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During the blizzard, a courageous St Bernard rescued a family trapped in their car.
Synonyms
2
3.1
A large strong dog with thick fur that helps rescue people in mountains
How Big
Surface Forms
Morphology
St + Bernard
The term is a proper-name compound (St = Saint, Bernard = a personal name) whose referent (a specific dog breed) is not compositionally predictable from the constituents. Knowing ‘St’ and ‘Bernard’ would more likely suggest a person or place named Bernard rather than a large rescue dog, so learners need lexical/cultural knowledge rather than pure compositional inference.
Etymology
St Bernard is named after a mountain shelter at the Great St Bernard Pass, where a monk called Saint Bernard and his big dogs helped find travellers lost in snow. These strong, furry dogs would lead people to safety, so the name now refers to a large dog known for 'rescue' work.