---
title: defy — school dictionary · trees and pragmatics
description: «defy» in the school dictionary: To defy someone is to refuse openly to obey them. Every meaning for a pupil with its dependency tree and pragmatics.
---

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# defy

<!-- .vintro -->
**Who acts:** danger, I, girl, climbers · **What happens:** defy, be, not obey, not beat, do, catch · **To what, where:** someone, them, something, you, me, teacher

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«defy» in the school dictionary: its 3 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: [defy in the school dictionary](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/w/defy.md).

## Meaning 1 {#m1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
To defy someone is to refuse openly to obey them.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:defy:m1:1
# text = To defy someone is to refuse openly to obey them.
1	To	to	PART	TO	_	2	mark	_	_
2	defy	defy	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	6	advcl	_	_
3	someone	someone	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Ind	2	obj	_	_
4	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	6	cop	_	_
5	to	to	PART	TO	_	6	mark	_	_
6	refuse	refuse	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
7	openly	openly	ADV	RB	_	6	advmod	_	_
8	to	to	PART	TO	_	9	mark	_	_
9	obey	obey	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	6	xcomp	_	_
10	them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	9	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	6	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **defy** | to-infinitive |  | someone |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **is** | present |  |  |  |  |  | openly, refuse *property* | tree rules |
| 3 | **not** **obey** | to-infinitive |  | them *= they* |  |  |  |  | vn abide\_by-93.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent they=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.

## Meaning 2 {#m2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
To defy something, such as a law or danger, is to face it boldly as if it cannot beat you.

<!-- fold The tree, 21 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:defy:m2:1
# text = To defy something, such as a law or danger, is to face it boldly as if it cannot beat you.
1	To	to	PART	TO	_	2	mark	_	_
2	defy	defy	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	14	advcl	_	_
3	something	something	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Ind	2	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	8	punct	_	_
5	such	such	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos|ExtPos=ADP	8	case	_	_
6	as	as	ADP	IN	_	5	fixed	_	_
7	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	law	law	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nmod	_	_
9	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	10	cc	_	_
10	danger	danger	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	2	punct	_	_
12	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	14	cop	_	_
13	to	to	PART	TO	_	14	mark	_	_
14	face	face	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
15	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	14	obj	_	_
16	boldly	boldly	ADV	RB	Degree=Pos	14	advmod	_	_
17	as	as	SCONJ	IN	_	22	mark	_	_
18	if	if	SCONJ	IN	_	22	mark	_	_
19	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	22	nsubj	_	_
20	can	can	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	22	aux	_	SpaceAfter=No
21	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	22	advmod	_	_
22	beat	beat	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	14	advcl	_	_
23	you	you	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Person=2|PronType=Prs	22	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
24	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	14	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **defy** | to-infinitive |  | something |  |  |  | such a law or danger | tree rules |
| 2 | **is** | present |  |  |  |  |  | boldly, face *property* | tree rules |
| 3 | **not** **beat** | can | danger | you |  |  |  |  | vn sound\_emission-43.2 «PP.location V NP»: agent=Location you=Theme |

## Meaning 3 {#m3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
To defy someone is also to dare them to do something.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:defy:m3:1
# text = To defy someone is also to dare them to do something.
1	To	to	PART	TO	_	2	mark	_	_
2	defy	defy	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	7	advcl	_	_
3	someone	someone	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Ind	2	obj	_	_
4	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	7	cop	_	_
5	also	also	ADV	RB	_	7	advmod	_	_
6	to	to	PART	TO	_	7	mark	_	_
7	dare	dare	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
8	them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	7	obj	_	_
9	to	to	PART	TO	_	10	mark	_	_
10	do	do	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	7	xcomp	_	_
11	something	something	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Ind	10	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	7	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **defy** | to-infinitive |  | someone |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **is** | present |  |  |  |  |  | dare *property* | tree rules |
| 3 | **do** | to-infinitive |  | something |  |  |  |  | vn act-114-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent something=Eventuality |

## Example 1 {#x1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
I defy you to catch me!

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:defy:x1:1
# text = I defy you to catch me!
1	I	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	defy	defy	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	you	you	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Person=2|PronType=Prs	2	obj	_	_
4	to	to	PART	TO	_	5	mark	_	_
5	catch	catch	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	2	advcl	_	_
6	me	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	5	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	!	!	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **defy** | present | I | you |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **catch** | to-infinitive | I *not said here* | me |  |  |  |  | vn get-13.5.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent i=Theme |

## Example 2 {#x2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The girl defied her teacher and stayed outside.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:defy:x2:1
# text = The girl defied her teacher and stayed outside.
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	girl	girl	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	defied	defy	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	her	her	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	5	nmod:poss	_	_
5	teacher	teacher	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	_
6	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	7	cc	_	_
7	stayed	stay	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	conj	_	_
8	outside	outside	ADV	RB	_	7	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **defy** | past | the girl | girl's teacher |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **stay** | past | the girl *not said here* |  |  |  |  | outside *property* | vn exist-47.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

## Example 3 {#x3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The climbers defied the storm and reached the top.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:defy:x3:1
# text = The climbers defied the storm and reached the top.
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	climbers	climber	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nsubj	_	_
3	defied	defy	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	storm	storm	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	_
6	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	7	cc	_	_
7	reached	reach	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	conj	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	top	top	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **defy** | past | the climbers | the storm |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **reach** | past | the climbers *not said here* | the top |  |  |  |  | vn body\_motion-49.2-1-1 «NP V NP ADV»: agent=Agent top=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.

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