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Definition of Phrases - 2 dictionary results
phrase
[freyz] 
noun, verb, phrased, phras⋅ing.–noun
| 1. | Grammar.
|
| 2. | Rhetoric. a word or group of spoken words that the mind focuses on momentarily as a meaningful unit and is preceded and followed by pauses. |
| 3. | a characteristic, current, or proverbial expression: a hackneyed phrase. |
| 4. | Music. a division of a composition, commonly a passage of four or eight measures, forming part of a period. |
| 5. | a way of speaking, mode of expression, or phraseology: a book written in the phrase of the West. |
| 6. | a brief utterance or remark: In a phrase, he's a dishonest man. |
| 7. | Dance. a sequence of motions making up part of a choreographic pattern. |
–verb (used with object)
| 8. | to express or word in a particular way: to phrase an apology well. |
| 9. | to express in words: to phrase one's thoughts. |
| 10. | Music.
|
–verb (used without object)
| 11. | Music. to perform a passage or piece with proper phrasing. |
Origin:
1520–30; (n.) back formation from phrases, pl. of earlier phrasis < L phrasis diction, style (pl. phrasēs) < Gk phrásis diction, style, speech, equiv. to phrá(zein) to speak + -sis -sis; (v.) deriv. of the n.
1520–30; (n.) back formation from phrases, pl. of earlier phrasis < L phrasis diction, style (pl. phrasēs) < Gk phrásis diction, style, speech, equiv. to phrá(zein) to speak + -sis -sis; (v.) deriv. of the n.
Synonyms:
1. Phrase, expression, idiom, locution all refer to grammatically related groups of words. A phrase is a sequence of two or more words that make up a grammatical construction, usually lacking a finite verb and hence not a complete clause or sentence: shady lane (a noun phrase); at the bottom (a prepositional phrase); very slowly (an adverbial phrase). In general use, phrase refers to any frequently repeated or memorable group of words, usually of less than sentence length or complexity: a case of feast or famine—to use the well-known phrase. Expression is the most general of these words and may refer to a word, a phrase, or even a sentence: prose filled with old-fashioned expressions. An idiom is a phrase or larger unit of expression that is peculiar to a single language or a variety of a language and whose meaning, often figurative, cannot easily be understood by combining the usual meanings of its individual parts, as to go for broke. Locution is a somewhat formal term for a word, a phrase, or an expression considered as peculiar to or characteristic of a regional or social dialect or considered as a sample of language rather than as a meaning-bearing item: a unique set of locutions heard only in the mountainous regions of the South.
1. Phrase, expression, idiom, locution all refer to grammatically related groups of words. A phrase is a sequence of two or more words that make up a grammatical construction, usually lacking a finite verb and hence not a complete clause or sentence: shady lane (a noun phrase); at the bottom (a prepositional phrase); very slowly (an adverbial phrase). In general use, phrase refers to any frequently repeated or memorable group of words, usually of less than sentence length or complexity: a case of feast or famine—to use the well-known phrase. Expression is the most general of these words and may refer to a word, a phrase, or even a sentence: prose filled with old-fashioned expressions. An idiom is a phrase or larger unit of expression that is peculiar to a single language or a variety of a language and whose meaning, often figurative, cannot easily be understood by combining the usual meanings of its individual parts, as to go for broke. Locution is a somewhat formal term for a word, a phrase, or an expression considered as peculiar to or characteristic of a regional or social dialect or considered as a sample of language rather than as a meaning-bearing item: a unique set of locutions heard only in the mountainous regions of the South.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source
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Link To Phrases
| phrase (frāz) n.
v. tr.
[Latin phrasis, diction, from Greek, speech, diction, phrase, from phrazein, to point out, show; see gwhren- in Indo-European roots.] phras'al adj., phras'al·ly adv. |
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source
Copyright © 2009, Dictionary.com, LLC. All rights reserved.
