---
title: jailbird — school dictionary · trees and pragmatics
description: «jailbird» in the school dictionary: A person who is in prison or has often been in prison. Every meaning for a pupil with its dependency tree and pragmatics.
---

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# jailbird

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**Who acts:** person, jailbird, Grandad, story, Calling · **What happens:** be, have, escape, wear, call, turn around · **To what, where:** prison, tunnel, striped suit, cartoon, villain, life · **Speech:** someone speaks here

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«jailbird» in the school dictionary: its meaning for a pupil and its 6 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: [jailbird in the school dictionary](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/w/jailbird.md).

## Meaning 1 {#m1}

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A person who is in prison or has often been in prison.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:jailbird:m1:1
# text = A person who is in prison or has often been in prison.
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	person	person	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nsubj	_	_
3	who	who	PRON	WP	PronType=Rel	6	nsubj	_	_
4	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	6	cop	_	_
5	in	in	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	prison	prison	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
7	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	8	cc	_	_
8	has	have	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	6	conj	_	_
9	often	often	ADV	RB	_	12	advmod	_	_
10	been	be	AUX	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	12	cop	_	_
11	in	in	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
12	prison	prison	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	6	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | a person |  |  | prison |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **have** | present | a person *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn birth-28.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent |
| 3 | **is** | participle |  |  |  | prison |  | often *property* | 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.

## Example 1 {#x1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The jailbird escaped through a tunnel.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:jailbird:x1:1
# text = The jailbird escaped through a tunnel.
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	jailbird	jailbird	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	escaped	escape	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	through	through	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	tunnel	tunnel	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **escape** | past | the jailbird |  |  | a tunnel |  |  | vn escape-51.1-1-1 «NP V PP.initial\_location»: agent=Theme through tunnel=Initial\_Location |

## Example 2 {#x2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
In the cartoon the jailbird wore a striped suit.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:jailbird:x2:1
# text = In the cartoon the jailbird wore a striped suit.
1	In	in	ADP	IN	_	3	case	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	cartoon	cartoon	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obl	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	jailbird	jailbird	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nsubj	_	_
6	wore	wear	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
7	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
8	striped	striped	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	9	amod	_	_
9	suit	suit	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	6	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **wear** | past | the jailbird | a striped suit |  | the cartoon |  |  | vn wipe\_manner-10.4.1-1 «NP V NP.theme»: agent=Agent suit=Theme |

## Example 3 {#x3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Grandad called the villain an old jailbird.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:jailbird:x3:1
# text = Grandad called the villain an old jailbird.
1	Grandad	Grandad	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	2	nsubj	_	_
2	called	call	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	villain	villain	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
5	an	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
6	old	old	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	amod	_	_
7	jailbird	jailbird	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	xcomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **call** | past | Grandad | the villain |  |  |  |  | vn initiate\_communication-37.4.2-1 «NP V NP.recipient»: agent=Agent villain=Recipient |

## Example 4 {#x4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The story is about a jailbird who turns his life around.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:jailbird:x4:1
# text = The story is about a jailbird who turns his life around.
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	story	story	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nsubj	_	_
3	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	6	cop	_	_
4	about	about	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	jailbird	jailbird	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
7	who	who	PRON	WP	PronType=Rel	8	nsubj	_	_
8	turns	turn	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	6	acl:relcl	_	_
9	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	10	nmod:poss	_	_
10	life	life	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obj	_	_
11	around	around	ADV	RB	_	8	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	6	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | the story |  |  |  |  | about a jailbird | tree rules |
| 2 | **turn around** | present | a jailbird | his life |  |  |  | around *property* | vn roll-51.3.1 «NP V NP.theme»: agent=Agent life=Theme |

## Example 5 {#x5}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The jailbird was back behind bars.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:jailbird:x5:1
# text = The jailbird was back behind bars.
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	jailbird	jailbird	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
3	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	cop	_	_
4	back	back	ADV	RB	_	0	root	_	_
5	behind	behind	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	bars	bar	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | past | the jailbird |  |  | bars |  | back *property* | tree rules |

## Example 6 {#x6}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Calling someone a jailbird is not kind.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:jailbird:x6:1
# text = Calling someone a jailbird is not kind.
1	Calling	call	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	7	csubj	_	_
2	someone	someone	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Ind	1	obj	_	_
3	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	jailbird	jailbird	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
5	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	7	cop	_	_
6	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	7	advmod	_	_
7	kind	kind	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	7	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **call** | gerund |  | someone |  |  |  |  | vn dub-29.3.2 «NP V NP NP»: agent=Agent someone=Theme jailbird=Result |
| 2 | **not** **is** | present | Calling |  |  |  |  | kind *property* | tree rules |

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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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