---
title: gadfly — school dictionary · trees and pragmatics
description: «gadfly» in the school dictionary: A gadfly is a large fly that bites cattle and horses. Every meaning for a pupil with its dependency tree and pragmatics.
---

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# gadfly

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**Who acts:** gadfly, large fly, person, cousin · **What happens:** be, bite, keep, pester, stir up, sting · **To what, where:** large fly, cattle, person, others, cow, gadfly

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

## Meaning 1 {#m1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A gadfly is a large fly that bites cattle and horses.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:gadfly:m1:1
# text = A gadfly is a large fly that bites cattle and horses.
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	gadfly	gadfly	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	large	large	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	amod	_	_
6	fly	fly	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
7	that	that	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	8	nsubj	_	_
8	bites	bite	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	6	acl:relcl	_	_
9	cattle	cattle	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	8	obj	_	_
10	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	11	cc	_	_
11	horses	horse	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	9	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	6	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present | a gadfly | a large fly |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **bite** | present | a large fly | cattle and horses |  |  |  |  | vn swat-18.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent cattle=Patient |

<!-- .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}

<!-- .note -->
Usage: informal — kept apart, not parsed.

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A gadfly is a person who keeps pestering and stirring others up.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:gadfly:m2:1
# text = A gadfly is a person who keeps pestering and stirring others up.
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	gadfly	gadfly	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
3	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	cop	_	_
4	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	person	person	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
6	who	who	PRON	WP	PronType=Rel	7	nsubj	_	_
7	keeps	keep	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	acl:relcl	_	_
8	pestering	pester	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	7	xcomp	_	_
9	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	10	cc	_	_
10	stirring	stir	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	8	conj	_	_
11	others	other	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	10	obj	_	_
12	up	up	ADP	RP	_	10	compound:prt	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present | a gadfly | a person |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **keep** | present | a person |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 3 | **pester** | gerund | a person *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn amuse-31.1 «NP V ADV-Middle»: agent=Experiencer |
| 4 | **stir up** | gerund | a person *not said here* | others |  |  |  |  | vn engender-27.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Precondition other=Patient |

## Example 1 {#x1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The gadfly stung the cow, and it ran off.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:gadfly:x1:1
# text = The gadfly stung the cow, and it ran off.
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	gadfly	gadfly	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	stung	sting	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	cow	cow	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	9	punct	_	_
7	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	9	cc	_	_
8	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	9	nsubj	_	_
9	ran	run	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	conj	_	_
10	off	off	ADP	RP	_	9	compound:prt	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **sting** | past | the gadfly | the cow |  |  |  |  | vn amuse-31.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Stimulus cow=Experiencer |
| 2 | **run off** | past | gadfly |  |  |  |  |  | vn run-51.3.2-2-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

## Example 2 {#x2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A gadfly buzzed round the horse's head.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:gadfly:x2:1
# text = A gadfly buzzed round the horse's head.
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	gadfly	gadfly	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	buzzed	buzz	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	2	acl	_	_
4	round	round	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	horse	horse	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	's	's	PART	POS	_	6	case	_	_
8	head	head	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **buzz** | participle |  | a gadfly *not said here* |  |  |  | round the horse's head | vn animal\_sounds-38 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

## Example 3 {#x3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
My cousin is a gadfly who never stops teasing.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:gadfly:x3:1
# text = My cousin is a gadfly who never stops teasing.
1	My	my	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Sing|Person=1|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	2	nmod:poss	_	_
2	cousin	cousin	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
3	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	cop	_	_
4	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	gadfly	gadfly	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
6	who	who	PRON	WP	PronType=Rel	8	nsubj	_	_
7	never	never	ADV	RB	PronType=Neg	8	advmod	_	_
8	stops	stop	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	acl:relcl	_	_
9	teasing	tease	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	8	xcomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present | My cousin | a gadfly |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **not** **stop** | present | a gadfly |  |  |  |  |  | vn stop-55.4-1-1 «NP V S\_ING»: agent=Affector clause=Eventuality |
| 3 | **tease** | gerund | a gadfly *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn ferret-35.6 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent |

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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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