---
title: cocking — Early Modern English dictionary · trees and pragmatics
description: «cocking» in the Early Modern English dictionary: Lifting or holding something up, such as a tail, or turning one eye to look sideways at someone. Every meaning for a pupil with its dependency tree and pragmatics.
---

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# cocking

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**Who acts:** tail, fresh rat, he, peculiar little hop, his · **What happens:** lift, hold up, turn, look, seem, be · **To what, where:** something, one eye, more rats, tail, whiskers, return · **Speech:** someone speaks here

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«cocking» in the Early Modern English dictionary: its meaning for a pupil and its 2 examples, every sentence parsed by Mova itself — its syntax tree, a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies, and its pragmatics clause by clause. The word in the dictionary, with its sense in the lessons: [cocking in the Early Modern English dictionary](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/emode/w/cocking.md).

## Meaning 1 {#m1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Lifting or holding something up, such as a tail, or turning one eye to look sideways at someone.

<!-- fold The tree, 18 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = dict:emode:cocking:m1:1
# text = Lifting or holding something up, such as a tail, or turning one eye to look sideways at someone.
1	Lifting	lift	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	10	csubj	_	_
2	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	3	cc	_	_
3	holding	hold	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	1	conj	_	_
4	something	something	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Ind	3	obj	_	_
5	up	up	ADP	RP	_	3	compound:prt	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	10	punct	_	_
7	such	such	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos|ExtPos=ADP	10	case	_	_
8	as	as	ADP	IN	_	7	fixed	_	_
9	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	tail	tail	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	13	punct	_	_
12	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	13	cc	_	_
13	turning	turn	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	10	acl	_	_
14	one	one	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	15	nummod	_	_
15	eye	eye	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	obj	_	_
16	to	to	PART	TO	_	17	mark	_	_
17	look	look	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	13	advcl	_	_
18	sideways	sideways	ADV	RB	_	17	advmod	_	_
19	at	at	ADP	IN	_	20	case	_	_
20	someone	someone	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Ind	17	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
21	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	10	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **lift** | gerund |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn put\_direction-9.4 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **hold up** | gerund |  | something |  |  |  |  | vn support-15.3-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Pivot something=Theme |
| 3 | **turn** | gerund | a tail *not said here* | one eye |  |  |  |  | vn roll-51.3.1 «NP V NP.theme»: agent=Agent eye=Theme |
| 4 | **look** | to-infinitive | a tail *not said here* |  |  |  |  | at someone; sideways *property* | vn peer-30.3 «NP V PP.theme»: agent=Agent at someone=Theme |

<!-- .note -->
One row per clause the reader finds. «not said here»: a role filled from the clause above. «roles by»: a VerbNet class and frame when one fits the verb, else the reader's rules on the tree.

## Example 1 {#x1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
But do what they might, cats or poison, terrier or traps, there seemed to be more rats than ever, and every day a fresh rat was cocking his tail or pricking his whiskers.

<!-- .note -->
From More English Fairy Tales.

<!-- fold The tree, 33 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = dict:emode:cocking:x1:1
# text = But do what they might, cats or poison, terrier or traps, there seemed to be more rats than ever, and every day a fresh rat was cocking his tail or pricking his whiskers.
1	But	but	CCONJ	CC	_	3	cc	_	_
2	do	do	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	aux	_	_
3	what	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	0	root	_	_
4	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	5	nsubj	_	_
5	might	might	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	3	acl:relcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	7	punct	_	_
7	cats	cat	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	appos	_	_
8	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	9	cc	_	_
9	poison	poison	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	11	punct	_	_
11	terrier	terrier	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	conj	_	_
12	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	13	cc	_	_
13	traps	trap	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	11	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	16	punct	_	_
15	there	there	PRON	EX	PronType=Dem	16	expl	_	_
16	seemed	seem	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	acl:relcl	_	_
17	to	to	PART	TO	_	20	mark	_	_
18	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	20	cop	_	_
19	more	more	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	20	amod	_	_
20	rats	rat	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	16	xcomp	_	_
21	than	than	ADP	IN	_	22	case	_	_
22	ever	ever	ADV	RB	PronType=Ind	20	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
23	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	31	punct	_	_
24	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	31	cc	_	_
25	every	every	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	26	det	_	_
26	day	day	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	31	obl:unmarked	_	_
27	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	29	det	_	_
28	fresh	fresh	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	29	amod	_	_
29	rat	rat	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	31	nsubj	_	_
30	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	31	aux	_	_
31	cocking	cock	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	16	xcomp	_	_
32	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	33	nmod:poss	_	_
33	tail	tail	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	31	obj	_	_
34	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	35	cc	_	_
35	pricking	prick	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	31	conj	_	_
36	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	37	nmod:poss	_	_
37	whiskers	whisker	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	35	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
38	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **seem** | past |  |  |  | there |  |  | vn seem-109-1-1-1 «NP V S\_INF»: agent=Theme clause=Attribute |
| 2 | **is a** | to-infinitive |  | more rats |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 3 | **cock** | past · progressive | a fresh rat | his tail |  |  | day |  | vn crane-40.3.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent tail=Patient |
| 4 | **prick** | gerund | a fresh rat *not said here* | his whiskers |  |  |  |  | vn hurt-40.8.3-2 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer whisker=Patient |

## Example 2 {#x2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
On his return he strutted up to his mother with the peculiar little hop and kick which was his way of walking, and cocking his one eye at her in a very bold way he said:

<!-- .note -->
From The Green Fairy Book.

<!-- fold The tree, 36 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = dict:emode:cocking:x2:1
# text = On his return he strutted up to his mother with the peculiar little hop and kick which was his way of walking, and cocking his one eye at her in a very bold way he said:
1	On	on	ADP	IN	_	3	case	_	_
2	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	3	nmod:poss	_	_
3	return	return	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obl	_	_
4	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	5	nsubj	_	_
5	strutted	strut	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
6	up	up	ADP	RP	_	5	compound:prt	_	_
7	to	to	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
8	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	9	nmod:poss	_	_
9	mother	mother	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obl	_	_
10	with	with	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
11	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	14	det	_	_
12	peculiar	peculiar	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	14	amod	_	_
13	little	little	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	14	amod	_	_
14	hop	hop	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	nmod	_	_
15	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	16	cc	_	_
16	kick	kick	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	14	conj	_	_
17	which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	20	nsubj	_	_
18	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	20	cop	_	_
19	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	20	nmod:poss	_	_
20	way	way	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	14	parataxis	_	_
21	of	of	ADP	IN	_	22	case	_	_
22	walking	walking	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	20	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
23	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	25	punct	_	_
24	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	25	cc	_	_
25	cocking	cock	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	5	advcl	_	_
26	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	28	nmod:poss	_	_
27	one	one	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	28	nummod	_	_
28	eye	eye	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	25	obj	_	_
29	at	at	ADP	IN	_	30	case	_	_
30	her	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	25	obl	_	_
31	in	in	ADP	IN	_	35	case	_	_
32	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	35	det	_	_
33	very	very	ADV	RB	_	34	advmod	_	_
34	bold	bold	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	35	amod	_	_
35	way	way	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	25	obl	_	_
36	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	37	nsubj	_	_
37	said	say	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	35	acl:relcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
38	:	:	PUNCT	:	_	5	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **strut up** | past | he |  |  | his return |  | to his mother with the peculiar little hop and kick | vn run-51.3.2-2 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme on return=Trajectory |
| 2 | **is a** | past | the peculiar little hop and kick | his way |  |  |  | of walking | tree rules |
| 3 | **cock** | gerund | he *not said here* | his one eye |  |  |  | at her *= she*; in a bold way | vn crane-40.3.2 «NP V NP PP.recipient PP.theme»: agent=Agent eye=Patient in way=Topic |
| 4 | **say** *speech: assert* | past | he | a bold way *not said here* |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V NP.topic»: agent=Agent way=Topic |
| 5 | **return** |  | his *= he* |  |  |  |  |  | nom return «communication intransitive»: poss=agent |

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**Text:** the Early Modern English dictionary of Mova's schools (`world/data/dictionary-schools/`), written for Mova; its examples quote public-domain texts. **Trees:** Mova's own parse — the `en` model on the CPU, when the site is built — not checked by a teacher; they may be wrong. **Frames:** Mova's frames reader (`prag`), each meaning and example read on its own. Elamur Cosmic License.

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