---
title: stifling — school dictionary · trees and pragmatics
description: «stifling» in the school dictionary: Stifling means very hot and airless, so that it is hard to breathe. Every meaning for a pupil with its dependency tree and pragmatics.
---

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# stifling

<!-- .vintro -->
**Who acts:** Stifling, It, you, room, we, air · **What happens:** mean, be, breathe, make, feel, trap · **To what, where:** you, stifling hot day, window

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

## Meaning 1 {#m1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Stifling means very hot and airless, so that it is hard to breathe.

<!-- fold The tree, 13 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:stifling:m1:1
# text = Stifling means very hot and airless, so that it is hard to breathe.
1	Stifling	stifling	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nsubj	_	_
2	means	mean	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	very	very	ADV	RB	_	4	advmod	_	_
4	hot	hot	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	xcomp	_	_
5	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	6	cc	_	_
6	airless	airless	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	12	punct	_	_
8	so	so	ADV	RB	_	12	advmod	_	_
9	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	12	mark	_	_
10	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	12	expl	_	_
11	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	12	cop	_	_
12	hard	hard	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	ccomp	_	_
13	to	to	PART	TO	_	14	mark	_	_
14	breathe	breathe	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	12	xcomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **mean** | present | Stifling |  |  |  |  | hot *property* | vn intend-61.2-1 «NP V S»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **is** | present |  |  |  |  |  | hard *property* | tree rules |
| 3 | **breathe** | to-infinitive |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn breathe-40.1.2-1 «NP V»: 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 -->
It can also mean making you feel trapped or held back.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:stifling:m2:1
# text = It can also mean making you feel trapped or held back.
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj	_	_
2	can	can	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
3	also	also	ADV	RB	_	4	advmod	_	_
4	mean	mean	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
5	making	make	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	4	xcomp	_	_
6	you	you	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Person=2|PronType=Prs	5	obj	_	_
7	feel	feel	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	5	xcomp	_	_
8	trapped	trap	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	7	xcomp	_	_
9	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	10	cc	_	_
10	held	hold	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	8	conj	_	_
11	back	back	ADV	RB	_	10	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **mean** | can | It |  |  |  |  |  | vn intend-61.2-1 «NP V S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 2 | **make** *not said to happen* | gerund |  | you |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 3 | **feel** *not said to happen* | infinitive | you *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn conjecture-29.5-2 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Theme |
| 4 | **trap** | participle | you *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn trick-59.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent |
| 5 | **hold back** | participle | you *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn exist-47.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

## Example 1 {#x1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It was a stifling hot day.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:stifling:x1:1
# text = It was a stifling hot day.
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	6	nsubj	_	_
2	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	6	cop	_	_
3	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
4	stifling	stifling	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	compound	_	_
5	hot	hot	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	amod	_	_
6	day	day	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	6	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | past | It | a stifling hot day |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

## Example 2 {#x2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The room was stifling, so we opened the window.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:stifling:x2:1
# text = The room was stifling, so we opened the window.
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	room	room	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
3	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
4	stifling	stifle	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	8	punct	_	_
6	so	so	ADV	RB	_	8	advmod	_	_
7	we	we	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=1|PronType=Prs	8	nsubj	_	_
8	opened	open	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=1|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	parataxis	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	window	window	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **stifle** | past · progressive | the room |  |  |  |  |  | vn suffocate-40.7 «NP.theme V»: agent=Patient |
| 2 | **open** | past | we | the window |  |  |  |  | vn spatial\_configuration-47.6-1 «PP.location V NP»: agent=Location window=Theme |

## Example 3 {#x3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The air in the cave was stifling.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:stifling:x3:1
# text = The air in the cave was stifling.
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	air	air	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nsubj	_	_
3	in	in	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	cave	cave	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nmod	_	_
6	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	7	aux	_	_
7	stifling	stifle	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	7	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **stifle** | past · progressive | the air in the cave |  |  |  |  |  | vn suffocate-40.7 «NP.theme V»: agent=Patient |

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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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