---
title: besieging — school dictionary · trees and pragmatics
description: «besieging» in the school dictionary: Surrounding a town, castle or fort with an army to make it give up. Every meaning for a pupil with its dependency tree and pragmatics.
---

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# besieging

<!-- .vintro -->
**Who acts:** Surrounding, army, besieging army, Reporters, besieging soldiers, Children · **What happens:** surround, make, give up, crowd, send, dig · **To what, where:** town, army, lots, trenches, walls, hotel

<!-- .vabout -->
«besieging» in the school dictionary: its 2 meanings for a pupil and its 5 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: [besieging in the school dictionary](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/w/besieging.md).

## Meaning 1 {#m1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Surrounding a town, castle or fort with an army to make it give up.

<!-- fold The tree, 14 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:besieging:m1:1
# text = Surrounding a town, castle or fort with an army to make it give up.
1	Surrounding	surround	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	12	csubj	_	_
2	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	town	town	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	5	punct	_	_
5	castle	castle	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	conj	_	_
6	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	7	cc	_	_
7	fort	fort	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	conj	_	_
8	with	with	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
9	an	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	army	army	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obl	_	_
11	to	to	PART	TO	_	12	mark	_	_
12	make	make	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
13	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	12	obj	_	_
14	give	give	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	12	xcomp	_	_
15	up	up	ADP	RP	_	14	compound:prt	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	12	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **surround** | gerund |  | a town and castle or fort |  |  |  | with a army | vn fill-9.8-1 «NP V NP PP.theme»: agent=Agent town=Destination with army=Theme |
| 2 | **make** | to-infinitive | Surrounding | army |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 3 | **give up** | infinitive | army *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn resign-10.11-2 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

<!-- .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.

## Meaning 2 {#m2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Crowding round someone or something, or sending lots of requests.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:besieging:m2:1
# text = Crowding round someone or something, or sending lots of requests.
1	Crowding	crowd	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
2	round	round	ADP	IN	_	3	case	_	_
3	someone	someone	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Ind	1	obl	_	_
4	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	5	cc	_	_
5	something	something	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Ind	3	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	8	punct	_	_
7	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	8	cc	_	_
8	sending	send	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	1	conj	_	_
9	lots	lot	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	8	obj	_	_
10	of	of	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
11	requests	request	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	9	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **crowd** | gerund |  |  |  |  |  | round someone | vn spray-9.7-1-1 «NP V PP.destination»: agent=Theme round someone=Destination |
| 2 | **send** | gerund |  | lots of requests |  |  |  |  | vn confine-92-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent lot=Theme |

## Example 1 {#x1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The besieging army dug trenches around the walls.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:besieging:x1:1
# text = The besieging army dug trenches around the walls.
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	besieging	besieging	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	compound	_	_
3	army	army	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
4	dug	dig	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	trenches	trench	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	obj	_	_
6	around	around	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	walls	wall	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **dig** | past | the besieging army | trenches |  | the walls |  |  | vn hunt-35.1 «NP V NP PP.location»: agent=Agent trench=Theme around wall=Location |

## Example 2 {#x2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Reporters were besieging the hotel.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:besieging:x2:1
# text = Reporters were besieging the hotel.
1	Reporters	reporter	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nsubj	_	_
2	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	aux	_	_
3	besieging	besiege	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	hotel	hotel	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **besiege** | past · progressive | Reporters | the hotel |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

## Example 3 {#x3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The besieging soldiers built catapults.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:besieging:x3:1
# text = The besieging soldiers built catapults.
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	besieging	besieging	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	compound	_	_
3	soldiers	soldier	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nsubj	_	_
4	built	build	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	catapults	catapult	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **build** | past | the besieging soldiers | catapults |  |  |  |  | vn build-26.1-1 «NP.asset V NP»: agent=Asset catapult=Product |

## Example 4 {#x4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Children were besieging the ice-cream van.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:besieging:x4:1
# text = Children were besieging the ice-cream van.
1	Children	child	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nsubj	_	_
2	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	aux	_	_
3	besieging	besiege	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
5	ice	ice	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	compound	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	5	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	cream	cream	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	compound	_	_
8	van	van	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **besiege** | past · progressive | Children | the cream van |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

## Example 5 {#x5}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The besieging forces finally gave up and went home.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:besieging:x5:1
# text = The besieging forces finally gave up and went home.
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	besieging	besieging	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	compound	_	_
3	forces	force	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	nsubj	_	_
4	finally	finally	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	_
5	gave	give	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
6	up	up	ADP	RP	_	5	compound:prt	_	_
7	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	8	cc	_	_
8	went	go	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	conj	_	_
9	home	home	ADV	RB	_	8	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **give up** | past | the besieging forces |  |  |  |  | finally *property* | vn resign-10.11-2 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **go** | past | the besieging forces *not said here* |  |  |  |  | home *property* | vn disappearance-48.2-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

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**Text:** the school dictionary of Mova's schools (`world/data/dictionary-schools/`), written for Mova. **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.

<!-- /div -->

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