---
title: censer — school dictionary · trees and pragmatics
description: «censer» in the school dictionary: A censer is a metal container, often hung on chains, that holds burning incense; it is swung in church to fill the air with sweet smoke. Every meaning for a pupil with its dependency tree and pragmatics.
---

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# censer

<!-- .vintro -->
**Who acts:** censer, chains, priests, censers · **What happens:** be, hang, hold, burn, swing, fill · **To what, where:** metal container, chains, incense, censer, church, air

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«censer» in the school dictionary: its meaning 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: [censer in the school dictionary](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/w/censer.md).

## Meaning 1 {#m1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A censer is a metal container, often hung on chains, that holds burning incense; it is swung in church to fill the air with sweet smoke.

<!-- fold The tree, 26 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:censer:m1:1
# text = A censer is a metal container, often hung on chains, that holds burning incense; it is swung in church to fill the air with sweet smoke.
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	censer	censer	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nsubj	_	_
3	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	6	cop	_	_
4	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
5	metal	metal	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	compound	_	_
6	container	container	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	9	punct	_	_
8	often	often	ADV	RB	_	9	advmod	_	_
9	hung	hang	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	6	acl	_	_
10	on	on	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
11	chains	chain	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	9	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	14	punct	_	_
13	that	that	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	14	nsubj	_	_
14	holds	hold	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	11	acl:relcl	_	_
15	burning	burn	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	14	xcomp	_	_
16	incense	incense	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	15	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
17	;	;	PUNCT	:	_	20	punct	_	_
18	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	20	nsubj:pass	_	_
19	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	20	aux:pass	_	_
20	swung	swing	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	6	conj	_	_
21	in	in	ADP	IN	_	22	case	_	_
22	church	church	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	20	obl	_	_
23	to	to	PART	TO	_	24	mark	_	_
24	fill	fill	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	20	advcl	_	_
25	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	26	det	_	_
26	air	air	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	24	obj	_	_
27	with	with	ADP	IN	_	29	case	_	_
28	sweet	sweet	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	29	amod	_	_
29	smoke	smoke	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	24	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
30	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	6	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present | a censer | a metal container |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **hang** | participle |  | a metal container *not said here* |  | chains |  | often *property* | vn assuming\_position-50 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Agent on chain=Location |
| 3 | **hold** | present | chains |  |  |  |  |  | vn conjecture-29.5 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Theme |
| 4 | **burn** | gerund | chains *not said here* | incense |  |  |  |  | vn light\_emission-43.1 «NP V NP.theme»: agent=Agent incense=Theme |
| 5 | **swing** | present · passive |  | censer |  | church |  |  | vn spatial\_configuration-47.6-1 «NP V NP.theme PP»: subject=Theme in church=Location |
| 6 | **fill** | to-infinitive |  | the air |  |  |  | with sweet smoke | vn other\_cos-45.4 «NP V NP PP.instrument»: agent=Agent air=Patient with smoke=Instrument |

<!-- .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 -->
The priests waved the censers.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:censer:x1:1
# text = The priests waved the censers.
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	priests	priest	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nsubj	_	_
3	waved	wave	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	censers	censer	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **wave** | past | the priests | the censers |  |  |  |  | vn wink-40.3.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent censer=Patient |

## Example 2 {#x2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
She was given a golden censer.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:censer:x2:1
# text = She was given a golden censer.
1	She	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
2	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	aux:pass	_	_
3	given	give	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
4	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
5	golden	golden	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	amod	_	_
6	censer	censer	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **give** | past · passive |  | She |  |  |  |  | vn give-13.1-1 «NP V NP-Dative NP»: subject=Recipient censer=Theme |

## Example 3 {#x3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The Mass was celebrated while the censers swung.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:censer:x3:1
# text = The Mass was celebrated while the censers swung.
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	Mass	Mass	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
3	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	aux:pass	_	_
4	celebrated	celebrate	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
5	while	while	SCONJ	IN	_	8	mark	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	censers	censer	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	8	nsubj	_	_
8	swung	swing	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	advcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **celebrate** | past · passive |  | the Mass |  |  |  |  | vn judgment-33.1-1 «NP V NP»: subject=Theme |
| 2 | **swing** | past | the censers |  |  |  |  |  | vn calibratable\_cos-45.6.1-1 «NP.attribute V»: agent=Attribute |

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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.

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