---
title: billow — school dictionary · trees and pragmatics
description: «billow» in the school dictionary: A billow is a big rolling wave of the sea. Every meaning for a pupil with its dependency tree and pragmatics.
---

<!-- md -->
[Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/billow/)

<!-- crumbs -->
[home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [corpora](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/) / [dictionaries](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/) / [school dictionary](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/) / [B](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/) / billow

# billow

<!-- .vintro -->
**Who acts:** billow, cloth, cloak, you · **What happens:** be, rise, do, roll, billow, pray · **To what, where:** big rolling wave, wind, sea, great billows

<!-- .vabout -->
«billow» in the school dictionary: its 2 meanings for a pupil and its 3 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: [billow in the school dictionary](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/w/billow.md).

## Meaning 1 {#m1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A billow is a big rolling wave of the sea.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:billow:m1:1
# text = A billow is a big rolling wave of the sea.
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	billow	billow	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nsubj	_	_
3	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	7	cop	_	_
4	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
5	big	big	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	amod	_	_
6	rolling	rolling	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	compound	_	_
7	wave	wave	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
8	of	of	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	sea	sea	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	7	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present | a billow | a big rolling wave |  |  |  | of the sea | tree rules |

<!-- .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 -->
To billow is to swell out and rise like a wave, as cloth does in the wind.

<!-- fold The tree, 17 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:billow:m2:1
# text = To billow is to swell out and rise like a wave, as cloth does in the wind.
1	To	to	PART	TO	_	2	mark	_	_
2	billow	billow	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	advcl	_	_
3	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	cop	_	_
4	to	to	PART	TO	_	5	mark	_	_
5	swell	swell	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
6	out	out	ADP	RP	_	5	compound:prt	_	_
7	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	8	cc	_	_
8	rise	rise	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	5	conj	_	_
9	like	like	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
10	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
11	wave	wave	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	15	punct	_	_
13	as	as	SCONJ	IN	_	15	mark	_	_
14	cloth	cloth	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	15	nsubj	_	_
15	does	do	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	conj	_	_
16	in	in	ADP	IN	_	18	case	_	_
17	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	18	det	_	_
18	wind	wind	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	15	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
19	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present |  |  |  |  |  | swell *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **rise** | infinitive |  |  |  |  |  | like a wave | vn assuming\_position-50 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 3 | **do** | present | cloth |  |  | the wind |  |  | vn act-114-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

## Example 1 {#x1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The sea rolled in great billows.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:billow:x1:1
# text = The sea rolled in great billows.
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	sea	sea	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj:pass	_	_
3	rolled	roll	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
4	in	in	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	great	great	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	amod	_	_
6	billows	billow	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **roll** | participle · passive |  | the sea |  | great billows |  |  | vn run-51.3.2-2 «NP V NP PP.trajectory»: subject=Theme in billow=Trajectory |

## Example 2 {#x2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Her cloak billowed behind her.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:billow:x2:1
# text = Her cloak billowed behind her.
1	Her	her	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	2	nmod:poss	_	_
2	cloak	cloak	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	billowed	billow	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	behind	behind	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	her	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **billow** | past | Her cloak |  |  |  |  | behind her *= she* | vn entity\_specific\_modes\_being-47.2 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme behind she=Location |

## Example 3 {#x3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Pray for those lost beyond the foaming billows.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:billow:x3:1
# text = Pray for those lost beyond the foaming billows.
1	Pray	pray	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	for	for	ADP	IN	_	3	case	_	_
3	those	that	PRON	DT	Number=Plur|PronType=Dem	1	obl	_	_
4	lost	lose	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	3	acl	_	_
5	beyond	beyond	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
7	foaming	foaming	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	compound	_	_
8	billows	billow	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **pray** | imperative | you *not said here* |  |  |  |  | for those | vn long-32.2 «NP V PP.theme»: agent=Pivot for that=Theme |
| 2 | **lose** | participle |  |  |  |  |  | beyond the foaming billows | vn succeed-74-3-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

<!-- div src -->

**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 -->

<!-- pn -->
- ← previous: [billionth](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/billionth/)
- next →: [billy](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/billy/)
- ↑ back to [B in school dictionary](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/)