city

Compared meaning: a large town (noun).

比较义项：城市（n.）。

• city 本词

  The general, neutral word for any large town, regardless of size; used in everyday speech for cities of all sizes.

  泛指任何较大的城镇，语气中性，日常口语中大小城市都可以用这个词。

  They moved to a bigger city last summer for work.

  去年夏天他们为了工作搬到了一个更大的城市。

• metropolis

  A more formal, literary word for a very large, important city, often emphasizing its size, influence or bustling scale; less common in casual speech.

  较正式、书面化的说法，指规模宏大、地位重要的大都市,强调其规模或繁华程度,口语中较少使用。

  The small town grew into a busy metropolis over fifty years.

  这个小镇在五十年间发展成了一座繁忙的大都市。

City and metropolis both mean a large town, but metropolis specifically refers to a very large, important city and sounds formal or literary. City is the neutral, general word, used for towns of any size.

city 和 metropolis 都指“城市”，但 metropolis 特指规模很大、地位重要的大都市，语气更正式、书面化；city 是最普通的说法，大小城市都能用。两者没有其他需要排除的义项。