phrase
//ˈfɹeɪ̯z//
Forms
- Plural
- phrases
- present (v1)
- phrase
- past (v2)
- phrased
- past participle (v3)
- phrased
- present participle
- phrasing
- 3rd person singular
- phrases
Definitions
1.A short written or spoken expression.
- I've made progress, but this is still, in Churchill's phrase, just "the end of the beginning."
2.A word or, more commonly, a group of words that functions as a single unit in the syntax of a sentence, always containing an expressed or implied head (the principal word or subgroup, with core importance) and often consisting of a head plus some other elaborating words.
3.A small section of music in a larger piece.
4.A short individual motion forming part of a choreographed dance.
1.To express (an action, thought or idea) by means of particular words.
- These suns, for so they phrase 'em.
- I wasn't sure how to phrase my condolences without sounding patronising.
2.To perform (a passage) with a particular phrasing.
3.To divide into melodic phrases.
Frequency
Overall
Uncommon· #2520
By learning goal
- Everyday conversation
- Rare
- General reading & writing
- Uncommon
- Academic
- Rare
- Literature
- Rare
Etymology
Borrowed from Late Latin phrasis (“diction”)
From Ancient Greek φράσις (phrásis, “manner of expression”)
From φράζω (phrázō, “to tell, express”).