A word or group of words read or spoken as a unit and separated by pauses or other junctures.
Grammar Two or more words in sequence that form a syntactic unit that is less than a complete sentence.
Music A short passage or segment, often consisting of four measures or forming part of a larger unit.
A series of dance movements forming a unit in a choreographic pattern.
v.
phrased, phras·ing, phras·es
v.
tr.
To express orally or in writing: The speaker phrased several opinions.
To pace or mark off (something read aloud or spoken) by pauses.
Music
To divide (a passage) into phrases.
To combine (notes) in a phrase.
v.
intr.
To make or render phrases, as in reading aloud.
Music To perform a passage with the correct phrasing.
[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.
[frey-zuh
l] 