A term coined by Alan Cruse. A distinct word meaning that appears to be motivated by the specific situational context in which the word (and the utterance in which the word is embedded) occurs. However, the distinct sense disappears in other contexts. This suggests that sub-senses lack full autonomy. The following illustrates a context-specific sub-sense of the lexical item knife: Mother: Haven't you got a knife, Jonny? Jonny: (at the table not eating his meat: has penknife in his pocket, but no knife of the appropriate type) No Although Jonny does have a knife (a penknife), the context (sitting at the meal table) stipulates that it is not a knife of the appropriate kind, that is it is not a cutlery knife.