phrase definition | Dictionary.com

phrase

[freyz]

noun, verb, phrased, phras⋅ing.

–noun

Grammar.

a.	a sequence of two or more words arranged in a grammatical construction and acting as a unit in a sentence.

b.	(in English) a sequence of two or more words that does not contain a finite verb and its subject or that does not consist of clause elements such as subject, verb, object, or complement, as a preposition and a noun or pronoun, an adjective and noun, or an adverb and verb.

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.

a.	to mark off or bring out the phrases of (a piece), esp. in execution.

b.	to group (notes) into a phrase.

–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.

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.

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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phrase (frāz)

A sequence of words intended to have meaning.
1. A characteristic way or mode of expression.
2. A brief, apt, and cogent expression.
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
1. To divide (a passage) into phrases.
2. 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 g^whren- 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

Phrase

Phrase\, n. [F., fr. L. phrasis diction, phraseology, Gr. ?, fr. ? to speak.]

1. A brief expression, sometimes a single word, but usually two or more words forming an expression by themselves, or being a portion of a sentence; as, an adverbial phrase.

"Convey" the wise it call. "Steal!" foh! a fico for the phrase. --Shak.

2. A short, pithy expression; especially, one which is often employed; a peculiar or idiomatic turn of speech; as, to err is human.

3. A mode or form of speech; the manner or style in which any one expreses himself; diction; expression. "Phrases of the hearth." --Tennyson.

Thou speak'st In better phrase and matter than thou didst. --Shak.

4. (Mus.) A short clause or portion of a period.

Note: A composition consists first of sentences, or periods; these are subdivided into sections, and these into phrases.

Phrase book, a book of idiomatic phrases. --J. S. Blackie.

Phrase

Phrase\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Phrased; p. pr. & vb. n. Phrasing.] [Cf. F. phraser.] To express in words, or in peculiar words; to call; to style. "These suns -- for so they phrase 'em." --Shak.

Phrase

Phrase\, v. i. 1. To use proper or fine phrases. [R.]

2. (Mus.) To group notes into phrases; as, he phrases well. See Phrase, n., 4.

Language Translation for : phrase

Spanish: frase,

German: der Ausdruck,

Japanese: 句

More Translations »

phrase

A group of grammatically connected words within a sentence: “One council member left in a huff”; “She got much satisfaction from planting daffodil bulbs.” Unlike clauses, phrases do not have both a subject and a predicate.

phrase

1530, "manner or style of expression," also "group of words with some unity," from L.L. phrasis "diction," from Gk. phrasis "speech, way of speaking, phraseology," from phrazein "to express, tell," from phrazesthai "to consider," of unknown origin. The musical sense of "short passage" is from 1789. The verb sense "to put into a phrase" is from 1570. Phraseology "choice or arrangement of words" first recorded 1664.

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