---
title: ruff — school dictionary · trees and pragmatics
description: «ruff» in the school dictionary: A ruff is a stiff, frilled collar worn round the neck long ago. Every meaning for a pupil with its dependency tree and pragmatics.
---

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# ruff

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**Who acts:** ruff, gentlemen, bird · **What happens:** be, wear, dress, lift · **To what, where:** stiff frilled collar, ring, She, ruff, little ruffs, feathery ruff

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

## Meaning 1 {#m1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A ruff is a stiff, frilled collar worn round the neck long ago.

<!-- fold The tree, 13 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:ruff:m1:1
# text = A ruff is a stiff, frilled collar worn round the neck long ago.
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	ruff	ruff	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	nsubj	_	_
3	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	8	cop	_	_
4	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
5	stiff	stiff	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	8	amod	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	5	punct	_	_
7	frilled	frilled	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	8	amod	_	_
8	collar	collar	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
9	worn	wear	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	8	acl	_	_
10	round	round	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
11	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
12	neck	neck	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	obl	_	_
13	long	long	ADV	RB	Degree=Pos	14	advmod	_	_
14	ago	ago	ADV	RB	_	9	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	8	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present | a ruff | a stiff frilled collar |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **wear** | participle |  | a stiff frilled collar *not said here* |  |  |  | round the neck; ago *property* | vn wipe\_manner-10.4.1-1 «NP V PP-Conative»: agent=Agent |

<!-- .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 -->
A ruff is a ring of feathers or fur round the neck of a bird or animal.

<!-- fold The tree, 17 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:ruff:m2:1
# text = A ruff is a ring of feathers or fur round the neck of a bird or animal.
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	ruff	ruff	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	ring	ring	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
6	of	of	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
7	feathers	feather	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	nmod	_	_
8	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	9	cc	_	_
9	fur	fur	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	conj	_	_
10	round	round	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
11	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
12	neck	neck	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	nmod	_	_
13	of	of	ADP	IN	_	15	case	_	_
14	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	15	det	_	_
15	bird	bird	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	nmod	_	_
16	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	17	cc	_	_
17	animal	animal	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	15	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
18	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present | a ruff | a ring |  |  |  | of feathers or fur round the neck of a bird or animal | tree rules |

## Example 1 {#x1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
She was dressed in a ruff and farthingale.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:ruff:x1:1
# text = She was dressed in a ruff and farthingale.
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	dressed	dress	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
4	in	in	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	ruff	ruff	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
7	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	8	cc	_	_
8	farthingale	farthingale	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **dress** | past · passive |  | She |  | a ruff and farthingale |  |  | vn dress-41.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP»: subject=Patient |

## Example 2 {#x2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The gentlemen wore little ruffs.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:ruff:x2:1
# text = The gentlemen wore little ruffs.
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	gentlemen	gentleman	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nsubj	_	_
3	wore	wear	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	little	little	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
5	ruffs	ruff	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 | **wear** | past | the gentlemen | little ruffs |  |  |  |  | vn wipe\_manner-10.4.1-1 «NP V NP.source»: agent=Agent ruff=Source |

## Example 3 {#x3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The bird lifted its feathery ruff.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:ruff:x3:1
# text = The bird lifted its feathery ruff.
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	bird	bird	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	lifted	lift	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	its	its	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	6	nmod:poss	_	_
5	feathery	feathery	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	amod	_	_
6	ruff	ruff	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 | **lift** | past | the bird | bird's feathery ruff |  |  |  |  | vn put\_direction-9.4 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent ruff=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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