Adjacent Words

Phrase definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

PHRASE, n. s as z. [Gr. to speak.]
1. A short sentence or expression. A phrase may be complete, as when it conveys complete sense, as humanum est errare, to err is human; or it may be incomplete, as when it consists of several words without affirming any thing, or when the noun and the verb do the office of a noun only; as, that which is true, that is, truth, satisfied the mind.
2. A particular mode of speech; a peculiar sentence of short idiomatic expression; as a Hebrew phrase; an Italian phrase.
3. Style; expression.
Thou speak'st
In better phrase.
4. In music, any regular symmetrical course of notes which begin and complete the intended expression.
PHRASE, v.t. To call; to style; to express in words or in peculiar words.
These suns,
For so they phrase them.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: an expression consisting of one or more words forming a grammatical constituent of a sentence
2: a short musical passage [syn: phrase, musical phrase]
3: an expression whose meanings cannot be inferred from the meanings of the words that make it up [syn: idiom, idiomatic expression, phrasal idiom, set phrase, phrase]
4: dance movements that are linked in a single choreographic sequence v
1: put into words or an expression; "He formulated his concerns to the board of trustees" [syn: give voice, formulate, word, phrase, articulate]
2: divide, combine, or mark into phrases; "phrase a musical passage"

Merriam Webster's

I. noun Etymology: Latin phrasis, from Greek, from phrazein to point out, explain, tell Date: 1530 1. a characteristic manner or style of expression ; diction 2. a. a brief expression; especially catchphrase b. word 3. a short musical thought typically two to four measures long closing with a cadence 4. a word or group of words forming a syntactic constituent with a single grammatical function <an adverbial phrase> 5. a series of dance movements comprising a section of a pattern II. transitive verb (phrased; phrasing) Date: 1570 1. a. to express in words or in appropriate or telling terms b. to designate by a descriptive word or phrase 2. to divide into melodic phrases

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. & v. --n. 1 a group of words forming a conceptual unit, but not a sentence. 2 an idiomatic or short pithy expression. 3 a manner or mode of expression (a nice turn of phrase). 4 Mus. a group of notes forming a distinct unit within a larger piece. --v.tr. 1 express in words (phrased the reply badly). 2 (esp. when reading aloud or speaking) divide (sentences etc.) into units so as to convey the meaning of the whole. 3 Mus. divide (music) into phrases etc. in performance. Phrases and idioms: phrase book a book for tourists etc. listing useful expressions with their equivalent in a foreign language. Derivatives: phrasing n. Etymology: earlier phrasis f. L f. Gk f. phrazo declare, tell

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

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.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

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.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

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.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(phrases, phrasing, phrased) Frequency: The word is one of the 3000 most common words in English. 1. A phrase is a short group of words that people often use as a way of saying something. The meaning of a phrase is often not obvious from the meaning of the individual words in it. He used a phrase I hate: 'You have to be cruel to be kind.' N-COUNT 2. A phrase is a small group of words which forms a unit, either on its own or within a sentence. It is impossible to hypnotise someone simply by saying a particular word or phrase. N-COUNT 3. If you phrase something in a particular way, you express it in words in that way. I would have phrased it quite differently... They phrased it as a question. VERB: V n adv, V n as n 4. If someone has a particular turn of phrase, they have a particular way of expressing themselves in words. ...Schwarzkopf's distinctive turn of phrase. to coin a phrase: see coin PHRASE: N inflects

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

I. n. 1. Expression (forming part of a sentence), brief expression. 2. Idiom, peculiar expression, turn of expression. 3. Style, diction, phraseology, manner of expression, mode of speech. II. v. a. Call, name, style, term, denominate, entitle, designate, christen, dub.

Moby Thesaurus

Parthian shot, adage, address, adjectival phrase, affirmation, allegation, ana, anacrusis, analects, answer, aphorism, apostrophe, apothegm, article, articulate, assertion, averment, axiom, back matter, bass passage, book, bourdon, breathe, bridge, burden, byword, cadence, catchword, chapter, chestnut, chime, choice of words, chorus, clause, cliche, coda, collected sayings, collocation, colloquialism, column, come out with, comment, commonplace, communicate, composition, conceive, convey, couch, couch in terms, crack, current saying, declaration, delineate, deliver, describe, development, dialect, dictate, diction, dictum, disclose, distich, division, embody in words, emit, enunciate, epigram, exclamation, exposition, express, expression, fascicle, figure, fling off, folderol, folio, formularize, formulate, formulation, frame, front matter, gathering, give, give expression, give expression to, give out with, give tongue, give utterance, give voice, give words to, glosseme, gnome, golden saying, grammar, greeting, harmonic close, icon, idiom, impart, installment, interjection, interlude, intermezzo, introductory phrase, language, leitmotiv, let out, lexeme, lexical form, lip, livraison, locution, manner of speaking, maxim, measure, mention, moral, morpheme, mot, motif, motive, motto, movement, musical phrase, musical sentence, note, noun phrase, number, observation, oracle, ornament, out with, page, paragraph, parlance, part, passage, period, phonate, phraseology, phrasing, pithy saying, platitude, position, pour forth, precept, prescript, present, pronounce, pronouncement, proverb, proverbial saying, proverbs, put, put forth, put in words, question, raise, reflection, refrain, remark, resolution, response, rhetoric, rhetorize, ritornello, saw, say, saying, section, semasiological unit, sememe, sentence, sententious expression, serial, set forth, set out, sheet, sign, signature, signifiant, significant, slogan, sloka, sound, speech, stanza, state, statement, stock saying, strain, style, subject, subjoinder, sutra, symbol, syntax, tailpiece, talk, teaching, tell, term, text, theme, thought, throw off, token, tutti, tutti passage, type, usage, use of words, usus loquendi, utter, utterance, variation, verb phrase, verbalize, verbiage, verse, vocabulary, vocalize, voice, volume, way of speaking, whisper, wisdom, wisdom literature, wise saying, witticism, word, word-group, wordage, wording, words of wisdom, write