---
title: outwit — school dictionary · trees and pragmatics
description: «outwit» in the school dictionary: To outwit someone is to beat them by being cleverer than they are, often by a trick. Every meaning for a pupil with its dependency tree and pragmatics.
---

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# outwit

<!-- .vintro -->
**Who acts:** they, clever little hero, I, you, little dwarf · **What happens:** outwit, be, not see · **To what, where:** someone, giant, me, great useless creatures, fish

<!-- .vabout -->
«outwit» 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: [outwit in the school dictionary](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/w/outwit.md).

## Meaning 1 {#m1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
To outwit someone is to beat them by being cleverer than they are, often by a trick.

<!-- fold The tree, 17 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:outwit:m1:1
# text = To outwit someone is to beat them by being cleverer than they are, often by a trick.
1	To	to	PART	TO	_	2	mark	_	_
2	outwit	outwit	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	beat	beat	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
7	them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	6	obj	_	_
8	by	by	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
9	being	be	AUX	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	10	cop	_	_
10	cleverer	clever	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	6	xcomp	_	_
11	than	than	SCONJ	IN	_	13	mark	_	_
12	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	13	nsubj	_	_
13	are	be	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	10	advcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	18	punct	_	_
15	often	often	ADV	RB	_	18	advmod	_	_
16	by	by	ADP	IN	_	18	case	_	_
17	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	18	det	_	_
18	trick	trick	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	parataxis	_	SpaceAfter=No
19	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	6	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **outwit** | to-infinitive |  | someone |  |  |  |  | vn exceed-90 «NP V NP»: agent=Pivot someone=Theme |
| 2 | **is** | present |  |  |  |  |  | beat *property* | tree rules |
| 3 | **is** | gerund |  |  |  |  |  | clever *property* | tree rules |
| 4 | **does** | present | they |  |  |  |  |  | vn exist-47.1 «NP V»: agent=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}

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A clever little hero outwits a giant or a fox.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:outwit:m2:1
# text = A clever little hero outwits a giant or a fox.
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
2	clever	clever	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	amod	_	_
3	little	little	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	amod	_	_
4	hero	hero	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
5	outwits	outwit	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
6	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	giant	giant	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	obj	_	_
8	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	10	cc	_	_
9	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	fox	fox	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **outwit** | present | a clever little hero | a giant or a fox |  |  |  |  | vn exceed-90 «NP V NP»: agent=Pivot giant=Theme |

## Example 1 {#x1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
I did not see that you were outwitting me.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:outwit:x1:1
# text = I did not see that you were outwitting me.
1	I	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj	_	_
2	did	do	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
3	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	4	advmod	_	_
4	see	see	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
5	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	8	mark	_	_
6	you	you	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Person=2|PronType=Prs	8	nsubj	_	_
7	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=2|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	8	aux	_	_
8	outwitting	outwit	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	4	advcl	_	_
9	me	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	8	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **see** | past · do-support | I |  |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Experiencer |
| 2 | **outwit** | past · progressive | you | me |  |  |  |  | vn exceed-90 «NP V NP»: agent=Pivot i=Theme |

## Example 2 {#x2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The little dwarf outwitted the great useless creatures.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:outwit:x2:1
# text = The little dwarf outwitted the great useless creatures.
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	little	little	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	dwarf	dwarf	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
4	outwitted	outwit	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
6	great	great	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	8	amod	_	_
7	useless	useless	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	8	amod	_	_
8	creatures	creature	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **outwit** | past | the little dwarf | the great useless creatures |  |  |  |  | vn exceed-90 «NP V NP»: agent=Pivot creature=Theme |

## Example 3 {#x3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
I must outwit these fish somehow.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:outwit:x3:1
# text = I must outwit these fish somehow.
1	I	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
2	must	must	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	3	aux	_	_
3	outwit	outwit	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
4	these	this	DET	DT	Number=Plur|PronType=Dem	5	det	_	_
5	fish	fish	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	_
6	somehow	somehow	ADV	RB	_	3	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **outwit** | must | I | this fish |  |  |  | somehow *property* | vn exceed-90 «NP V NP»: agent=Pivot fish=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.

<!-- /div -->

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