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phrase

- 4 dictionary results

phrase

   [freyz] Show IPA noun, verb, phrased, phras·ing.
–noun
1.
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.
EXPAND
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.
COLLAPSE
–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.
–verb (used without object)
11.
Music . to perform a passage or piece with proper phrasing.
Use phrase in a Sentence
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

—Related forms
mis·phrase, verb (used with object), -phrased, -phras·ing.
un·phrased, adjective

—Can be confused:   frays, phrase (see synonym note at the current entry ).

—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.

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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2011.
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Related Words for : phrase
articulate, formulate, give voice, word, musical phrase

World English Dictionary
phrase  (freɪz) [Click for IPA pronunciation guide]
— 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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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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Cultural Dictionary

phrase definition


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.

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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