View synonyms for word for word

word for word

adverb

in exactly the same words; verbatim.
one word at a time, without regard for the sense of the whole:
She translated the book word for word.

Middle English word dating back to 1350–1400

Exactly as written or spoken, as in That was the forecast, word for word . Chaucer used this idiom in the late 1300s.

Conor has described, all but word-for-word, the position of the evangelical “post-culture warrior.”

"Women and children starboard," came like a near, word-for-word echo.

But the chief instrument of her vindication is the word-for-word record of her trial at Rouen in 1431.

Second, Avoid word-for-word translations of English sentences in which the word you occurs.

All stories should be as nearly word-for-word as is possible.

The impossibility of such a thing as a word-for-word bringing over from one language into another.

April 18, 2024petrichor

[pet-ri-kawr]

Start each day with the Word of the Day in your inbox!

By clicking "Sign Up", you are accepting Dictionary.com Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policies.

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Browse