---
title: writhe — school dictionary · trees and pragmatics
description: «writhe» in the school dictionary: To writhe is to twist and turn the body, often in pain. Every meaning for a pupil with its dependency tree and pragmatics.
---

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# writhe

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**Who acts:** writhe, He · **What happens:** writhe, be, turn, mean, wriggle, get · **To what, where:** body, worm, hook, pain, snake, dry stones

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«writhe» in the school dictionary: its 2 meanings for a pupil and its 4 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: [writhe in the school dictionary](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/w/writhe.md).

## Meaning 1 {#m1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
To writhe is to twist and turn the body, often in pain.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:writhe:m1:1
# text = To writhe is to twist and turn the body, often in pain.
1	To	to	PART	TO	_	2	mark	_	_
2	writhe	writhe	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	5	csubj	_	_
3	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	cop	_	_
4	to	to	PART	TO	_	5	mark	_	_
5	twist	twist	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
6	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	7	cc	_	_
7	turn	turn	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	5	conj	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	body	body	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	13	punct	_	_
11	often	often	ADV	RB	_	13	advmod	_	_
12	in	in	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
13	pain	pain	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **writhe** | to-infinitive |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn body\_internal\_states-40.6 «NP V»: agent=Experiencer |
| 2 | **is** | present |  |  |  |  |  | twist *property* | tree rules |
| 3 | **turn** | infinitive |  | the body |  |  |  | in pain | vn crane-40.3.2 «NP V NP PP.recipient PP.theme»: agent=Agent body=Patient in pain=Topic |

<!-- .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 -->
To writhe can mean to wriggle hard to get free of a hold.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:writhe:m2:1
# text = To writhe can mean to wriggle hard to get free of a hold.
1	To	to	PART	TO	_	2	mark	_	_
2	writhe	writhe	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
3	can	can	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
4	mean	mean	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
5	to	to	PART	TO	_	6	mark	_	_
6	wriggle	wriggle	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	4	xcomp	_	_
7	hard	hard	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	xcomp	_	_
8	to	to	PART	TO	_	9	mark	_	_
9	get	get	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	7	xcomp	_	_
10	free	free	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	9	xcomp	_	_
11	of	of	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
12	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	13	det	_	_
13	hold	hold	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **mean** | can | writhe |  |  |  |  |  | vn intend-61.2-1 «NP V S\_INF»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 2 | **wriggle** *not said to happen* | to-infinitive | writhe *not said here* |  |  |  |  | hard *property* | vn body\_internal\_motion-49.1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 3 | **get** | to-infinitive | writhe *not said here* |  |  |  |  | free *property* | vn comprehend-87.2-1 «NP V S\_ING»: agent=Experiencer |

## Example 1 {#x1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The worm writhed on the hook.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:writhe:x1:1
# text = The worm writhed on the hook.
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	worm	worm	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	writhed	writhe	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	2	acl	_	_
4	on	on	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	hook	hook	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **writhe** | participle |  | the worm *not said here* |  | the hook |  |  | vn modes\_of\_being\_with\_motion-47.3 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme on hook=Location |

## Example 2 {#x2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
He writhed in pain on the floor.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:writhe:x2:1
# text = He writhed in pain on the floor.
1	He	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	writhed	writhe	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	in	in	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
4	pain	pain	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
5	on	on	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	floor	floor	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **writhe** | past | He |  |  | pain |  | on the floor | vn modes\_of\_being\_with\_motion-47.3 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme in pain=Location |

## Example 3 {#x3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The snake writhed on the dry stones.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:writhe:x3:1
# text = The snake writhed on the dry stones.
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	snake	snake	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	writhed	writhe	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	2	acl	_	_
4	on	on	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
6	dry	dry	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	amod	_	_
7	stones	stone	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **writhe** | participle |  | the snake *not said here* |  | the dry stones |  |  | vn modes\_of\_being\_with\_motion-47.3 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme on stone=Location |

## Example 4 {#x4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Nothing for maths.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:writhe:x4:1
# text = Nothing for maths.
1	Nothing	nothing	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Neg	0	root	_	_
2	for	for	ADP	IN	_	3	case	_	_
3	maths	math	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	1	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

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The frames reader finds no event or fact in this sentence.

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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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