Phrase Definition
frāz
phrased, phrases, phrasing
noun
phrases
A manner or style of speech or expression; phraseology.
Webster's New World
A sequence of two or more words conveying a single thought or forming a distinct part of a sentence but not containing a subject and predicate.
Webster's New World
A short, colorful or forceful expression.
Webster's New World
A connected series of movements in a formal dance.
Webster's New World
A short, distinct part or passage, usually of two, four, or eight measures.
Webster's New World
Synonyms:
- lexiphanicism
- construction
- catch-phrase
- neologism
- idiom
- parlance
- parenthesis
- syntax
- word
- phraseology
- diction
- set-phrase
- phrasal-idiom
- idiomatic expression
- musical-phrase
verb
phrased, phrases, phrasing
To express orally or in writing.
The speaker phrased several opinions.
American Heritage
To divide (a passage) into phrases.
American Heritage
To mark off or divide (notes) into phrases.
Webster's New World
To express in a certain way, as by selecting particular words to make a phrase.
Webster's New World
To perform a passage with the correct phrasing.
American Heritage
Origin of Phrase
-
Latin phrasis diction from Greek speech, diction, phrase from phrazein to point out, show gwhren- in Indo-European roots
From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition
-
From Late Latin phrasis (“diction”), from Ancient Greek φράσις (phrasis, “manner of expression”), from φράζω (phrazō, “I tell, express”).
From Wiktionary
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