sergeant

«sergeant» in Mova's school dictionary: A soldier of middle rank, above a corporal, who is in… — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 3 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

part of speech

noun (a sergeant, sergeants)

meaning for a pupil

1) A soldier of middle rank, above a corporal, who is in charge of a group of soldiers. tree →

2) A police officer of the rank above a constable. tree →

3) (in titles) Sergeant Major, Sergeant at Arms. tree →

sense in the lessons

In stories, a sergeant often gives orders, shouts drills or arrests people. In The Wind in the Willows, the policemen who catch Toad and the court are part of the story of the law. Phrases: «drill sergeant», «police sergeant», «Sergeant-at-Arms».

examples

• The sergeant shouted, «Left, right, left, right!» tree →
• Sergeant Jones is in charge of the local police station. tree →
• My grandad was a sergeant in the army. tree →
• The sergeant has three stripes on his sleeve. tree →
• The sergeant asked the witness some questions. tree →
• A police sergeant came to talk to our class about road safety. tree →
• A sergeant-major cried for mercy, saying he had nine wounds, and was a brave fellow, and did not deserve this disgrace. tree →

note

Spelling trap: s-e-r-g-e-a-n-t; it sounds like «SAR-jent». Short form: Sgt.

In the corpora

• The sergeant speaks in old-fashioned words: «Oddsbodikins! … Rouse thee, old loon» (= Goodness!
• When the Sergeant told the «good woman» to run away, Mole said it wouldn't be her running away soon.
• The Sergeant: «Now run away, my good woman, run away!

Trees and pragmatics

Every meaning and example of «sergeant» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.