phrases
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noun
1.
Grammar.
a.
a sequence of two or more words arranged in a grammatical construction and acting as a unit in a sentence.
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.
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.
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), especially in execution.
b.
to group (notes) into a phrase.
00:10
Phrases
is always a great word to know.
So is quincunx. Does it mean:
| a children's mummer's parade, as on the Fourth of July, with prizes for the best costumes. |
| an arrangement of five objects, as trees, in a square or rectangle, one at each corner and one in the middle. |
verb (used without object)
11.
Music. to perform a passage or piece with proper phrasing.
Origin:
1520–30; (noun) back formation from phrases, plural of earlier phrasis < Latin phrasis diction, style (plural phrasēs) < Greek phrásis diction, style, speech, equivalent to phrá(zein) to speak + -sis -sis; (v.) derivative of the noun
1520–30; (noun) back formation from phrases, plural of earlier phrasis < Latin phrasis diction, style (plural phrasēs) < Greek phrásis diction, style, speech, equivalent to phrá(zein) to speak + -sis -sis; (v.) derivative of the noun
Related forms
mis·phrase, verb (used with object), mis·phrased, mis·phras·ing.
un·phrased, adjective
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. 2013.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
Cite This Source
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Link To phrases
Collins
World English Dictionary
phrase (freɪz) ![[Click for IPA pronunciation guide]](http://static.sfdict.com/dictstatic/g/d/dictionary_questionbutton_default.gif) | |
| —n | |
| 1. | clause noun phrase Compare verb phrase a group of words forming an immediate syntactic constituent of a clause |
| 2. | a particular expression, esp an original one |
| 3. | music a small group of notes forming a coherent unit of melody |
| 4. | (in choreography) a short sequence of dance movements |
| —vb | |
| 5. | music to divide (a melodic line, part, etc) into musical phrases, esp in performance |
| 6. | to express orally or in a phrase |
| [C16: from Latin phrasis, from Greek: speech, from phrazein to declare, tell] | |
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
Cite This Source
Etymonline
Word Origin & History
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.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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American Heritage
The American Heritage® New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source
Example sentences
Such speech models are built by studying how people use language and how different people translate the same phrases.
My nephew is mostly nonverbal but communicates when he wishes with a limited number of words and phrases.
His finest sentences and phrases are poetic and symbolical in nature.
Song: long and elaborate, consisting of low trills and warbles, seldom repeating phrases.
Nearby Words
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