Best definition of the word phrase - Word и Excel - помощь в работе с программами

Noun

Answer the questions in complete sentences, not phrases.

She used the phrase “I strongly believe” too many times in her speech.

Underline the key words or phrases in the paragraph.

To borrow a phrase from my mother, I spend too much time “watching the boob tube” and not enough time outside.

Verb

He phrased his version of the story in a way that made him look good.

The question was awkwardly phrased.

The singer phrased the music beautifully.

Recent Examples on the Web

The phrase, known as the Sivowitch Law of Firsts, came from Elliot Sivowitch, the late television and radio historian who worked as a curator at the museum for some 40 years.

—Michelle Delgado, Smithsonian Magazine, 3 Apr. 2023

There’s a phrase for that: Imitation is the most sincere most form of flattery.

—Andy Greene, Rolling Stone, 3 Apr. 2023

There is something inherently daunting and thrilling about that phrase: riding a bicycle to a glacier.

—Alli Harvey, Anchorage Daily News, 2 Apr. 2023

The phrase excusse, or even celebrates, something inexcusable.

—Vulture, 31 Mar. 2023

Longtime fans, meanwhile, may recognize the Elite Transformer’s 80 audio phrases as original voice actor Peter Cullen.

—Stephanie Mlot, PCMAG, 30 Mar. 2023

Amid the political and pandemic chaos of the past few years, treacly phrases don’t seem authentic, says Norris, now 28.

—Courtney Vinopal, Washington Post, 28 Mar. 2023

The phrase case-mix complexity is generally used to denote patients with a poor prognosis or greater severity of illness, treatment difficulty, or need for intervention.

—Nick Blackmer, Verywell Health, 24 Mar. 2023

Traditional security systems often cannot spot newly developing threat patterns and instead depend on simple methods such as phrase counting and sentiment analysis.

—Terence Jackson, Forbes, 22 Mar. 2023

Perhaps the question is better phrased: To whom does a school belong?

—Richard Vedder, WSJ, 16 Mar. 2023

And there are certain ways of phrasing things that are typical to Blackfeet in the exposition.

—Willing Davidson, The New Yorker, 13 Mar. 2023

In the opening recitativo sections, his 21 cellos and basses phrased in immaculate unison.

—Jeffrey Gantz, BostonGlobe.com, 26 Feb. 2023

How to phrase this?

—Lester Fabian Brathwaite, EW.com, 10 Feb. 2023

Factor graphs have been very successful in providing a lingua franca in which to phrase robotics perception and navigation problems.

—IEEE Spectrum, 31 Jan. 2023

This means Tacotron 2 can phrase things as questions and correctly differentiate between homonyms, as well as more subtle things like highlighting the subject of a sentence by adding emphasis to a word.

—Nathaniel Scharping, Discover Magazine, 8 Jan. 2018

But that may not be the right way to phrase the question.

—Dennis Overbye, New York Times, 24 Jan. 2023

There is no other way to phrase it: trying to maintain a healthy relationship while having low libidois difficult.

—Amber Smith, Discover Magazine, 20 Dec. 2022

See More

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word ‘phrase.’ Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Источник

Phrase definition: A phrase is a grammatical term referring to a group of words that does not include a subject and verb.

What is a Phrase? Examples, Definitions

What are phrases? A phrase is a group (or pairing) of words in English. A phrase can be short or long, but it does not include the subject-verb pairing necessary to make a clause.

Some examples of phrases include:

after the meal (prepositional phrase)
the nice neighbor (noun phrase)
were waiting for the movie (verb phrase)

None of these examples contains a subject doing an action (subject-verb). Therefore, each example is merely a group of words called a phrase.

A phrase will always be more than one word.

Phrases vs. Clauses: a Hierarchy of Word Units

A phrase is any group of words that does not contain a subject completing an action.

When a group of words contains a subject doing an action (subject-verb), it becomes a clause.

Phrases can be added to sentences to make them more complex.

Concepts can begin with a single word and develop into a compound sentence.

Example:

meal (word)
after the meal (phrase)
that mom prepared (clause)
After the meal that mom prepared I felt full. (sentence)
After the meal that mom prepared, I felt full because I ate too much. (complex sentence)
After the meal that mom prepared I felt full, but my brother was still hungry. (compound sentence)

Before we go into different types of grammatical phrases, let’s look at a few more examples of phrases.

In the air (prepositional phrase)
Beside the bed (prepositional phrase)
Along the road (prepositional phrase)
To live and breathe (infinitive phrase)
Looking stunning (participle phrase)

As you can see, English phrases can be just about any combination of words so long as they do not contain a subject-verb pairing.

Different Types of Phrase

What is a noun phrase? Noun phrases consist of a noun and its modifiers.

the nice neighbor
a soft, comfortable bed

What is a verb phrase? Verb phrases consist of a verb and its modifiers.

were waiting for the movie
felt a prick on his arm

What is an adverbial phrase? Adverbial phrases are phrases that act as adverbs. They modify verbs, adverbs, or adjectives.

around the block (modifying where)
after the meal (modifying when)
in silence (modifying how)

What is a gerund phrase? Gerund phrases are essentially noun phrases that begin with a gerund.

running through the woods
jumping like a kangaroo

What is an infinitive phrase? Infinitive phrases begin with a verb infinitive and include any modifiers. Infinitive phrases function as nouns, adjectives, or adverbs.

to run out of food
to visit to the countryside

What is an appositive phrase? An appositive is essentially a noun phrase but one that renames another noun in the sentence.

The tree, a tall redwood, was beautiful.
The curtains were made of lace, a beautiful and delicate fabric.

What is a participle phrase? A participle phrase begins with a present (-ing) or past (-ed) participle. A participle phrase includes the participle and its modifiers. Participle phrases function as adjectives.

The girls giggling and playing in the park never seemed to tire.
Fatigued and dehydrated in the desert the men traveled on.

What is a prepositional phrase? A prepositional phrase is a group of words that includes a preposition and a noun. A prepositional phrase will function as either an adjective or an adverb.

before church
under the stairs

What is an absolute phrase? An absolute phrase includes a noun and a participle and any modifiers.

the flag flying at half-mast
her hair streaked with sunlight

Summary: What are Phrases?

Define phrase: The definition of phrase is any grouping of words that does not contain a subject and a verb. A phrase is a very basic word unit in English.

Phrases Examples:
- Reading a book
- The tall basketball player

Contents

1 What is a Phrase? Examples, Definitions
2 Phrases vs. Clauses: a Hierarchy of Word Units
3 More Phrase Examples
4 Different Types of Phrase
5 Summary: What are Phrases?

Источник

phrase

Grammatical phrases are groups of two or more words that work together to perform a single grammatical function in a sentence. Unlike clauses, phrases do not contain both a subject and a predicate (although they sometimes function as one or the other).

phrase

(frāz)

1. A sequence of words that have meaning, especially when forming part of a sentence.

a. A characteristic way or mode of expression: an apt turn of phrase.

b. A brief, apt, and cogent expression: the phrase «out of the frying pan and into the fire.»

3. Music A short passage or segment, often consisting of four measures or forming part of a larger unit.

4. A series of dance movements forming a unit in a choreographic pattern.

v. phrased, phras·ing, phras·es

v.tr.

1. To express orally or in writing: The speaker phrased several opinions.

2. Music

a. To divide (a passage) into phrases.

b. To combine (notes) in a phrase.

v.intr.

1. To make or express phrases.

2. Music To perform a passage with the correct phrasing.

[Latin phrasis, diction, from Greek, speech, diction, phrase, from phrazein, to point out, show; see g^whren- in Indo-European roots.]

phras′al adj.

phras′al·ly adv.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

phrase

(freɪz)

1. (Grammar) a group of words forming an immediate syntactic constituent of a clause. Compare clause¹, noun phrase, verb phrase

2. a particular expression, esp an original one

3. (Classical Music) music a small group of notes forming a coherent unit of melody

4. (Dancing) (in choreography) a short sequence of dance movements

vb (tr)

5. (Classical Music) 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 and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

phrase

(freɪz)

n., v. phrased, phras•ing. n.

1. a sequence of two or more words arranged in a grammatical unit and lacking a finite verb or such elements of clause structure as subject and verb, as a preposition and a noun or pronoun, an adjective and noun, or an adverb and verb, esp. such a construction acting as a unit in a sentence.

2. a characteristic, current, or proverbial expression.

3. a way of speaking, mode of expression, or phraseology.

4. a brief utterance or remark.

5. a division of a musical composition, commonly a passage of four or eight measures, forming part of a period.

6. a sequence of dance motions making up part of a choreographic pattern.

v.t.

7. to express or word in a particular way.

8. to express in words.

a. to mark off or bring out the phrases of (a piece of music), esp. in execution.

b. to group (notes) into a phrase.

v.i.

10. to perform a musical passage or piece with proper phrasing.

[1520–30; (n.) back formation from phrases, pl. of earlier phrasis < Latin: diction, style < Greek phrásis, derivative of phrázein to show]

phrase

Past participle: phrased
Gerund: phrasing

Imperative
phrase
phrase

Present
I phrase
you phrase
he/she/it phrases
we phrase
you phrase
they phrase

Preterite
I phrased
you phrased
he/she/it phrased
we phrased
you phrased
they phrased

Present Continuous
I am phrasing
you are phrasing
he/she/it is phrasing
we are phrasing
you are phrasing
they are phrasing

Present Perfect
I have phrased
you have phrased
he/she/it has phrased
we have phrased
you have phrased
they have phrased

Past Continuous
I was phrasing
you were phrasing
he/she/it was phrasing
we were phrasing
you were phrasing
they were phrasing

Past Perfect
I had phrased
you had phrased
he/she/it had phrased
we had phrased
you had phrased
they had phrased

Future
I will phrase
you will phrase
he/she/it will phrase
we will phrase
you will phrase
they will phrase

Future Perfect
I will have phrased
you will have phrased
he/she/it will have phrased
we will have phrased
you will have phrased
they will have phrased

Future Continuous
I will be phrasing
you will be phrasing
he/she/it will be phrasing
we will be phrasing
you will be phrasing
they will be phrasing

Present Perfect Continuous
I have been phrasing
you have been phrasing
he/she/it has been phrasing
we have been phrasing
you have been phrasing
they have been phrasing

Future Perfect Continuous
I will have been phrasing
you will have been phrasing
he/she/it will have been phrasing
we will have been phrasing
you will have been phrasing
they will have been phrasing

Past Perfect Continuous
I had been phrasing
you had been phrasing
he/she/it had been phrasing
we had been phrasing
you had been phrasing
they had been phrasing

Conditional
I would phrase
you would phrase
he/she/it would phrase
we would phrase
you would phrase
they would phrase

Past Conditional
I would have phrased
you would have phrased
he/she/it would have phrased
we would have phrased
you would have phrased
they would have phrased

Collins English Verb Tables © HarperCollins Publishers 2011

phrase

A group of words forming a unit that is not a complete sentence.

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Noun	1.	phrase — an expression consisting of one or more words forming a grammatical constituent of a sentence head word, headword — a content word that can be qualified by a modifier grammatical construction, construction, expression — a group of words that form a constituent of a sentence and are considered as a single unit; «I concluded from his awkward constructions that he was a foreigner» nominal, nominal phrase, noun phrase — a phrase that can function as the subject or object of a verb verb phrase, predicate — one of the two main constituents of a sentence; the predicate contains the verb and its complements prepositional phrase — a phrase beginning with a preposition pronominal, pronominal phrase — a phrase that functions as a pronoun modifier, qualifier — a content word that qualifies the meaning of a noun or verb response — a phrase recited or sung by the congregation following a versicle by the priest or minister catch phrase, catchphrase — a phrase that has become a catchword
	2.	phrase — a short musical passage musical phrase melodic line, melodic phrase, melody, tune, strain, air, line — a succession of notes forming a distinctive sequence; «she was humming an air from Beethoven» musical passage, passage — a short section of a musical composition ligature — (music) a group of notes connected by a slur ostinato — a musical phrase repeated over and over during a composition
	3.	phrase — an expression whose meanings cannot be inferred from the meanings of the words that make it up idiomatic expression, phrasal idiom, set phrase, idiom locution, saying, expression — a word or phrase that particular people use in particular situations; «pardon the expression» ruralism, rusticism — a rural idiom or expression in the lurch — in a difficult or vulnerable position; «he resigned and left me in the lurch» like clockwork — with regularity and precision; «the rocket launch went off like clockwork»
	4.	phrase — dance movements that are linked in a single choreographic sequence dancing, terpsichore, dance, saltation — taking a series of rhythmical steps (and movements) in time to music
Verb	1.	phrase — put into words or an expression; «He formulated his concerns to the board of trustees» give voice, word, articulate, formulate ask — direct or put; seek an answer to; «ask a question» evince, express, show — give expression to; «She showed her disappointment» lexicalise, lexicalize — make or coin into a word or accept a new word into the lexicon of a language; «The concept expressed by German `Gemuetlichkeit’ is not lexicalized in English» dogmatise, dogmatize — state as a dogma formularise, formularize — express as a formula couch, redact, put, frame, cast — formulate in a particular style or language; «I wouldn’t put it that way»; «She cast her request in very polite language»
	2.	phrase — divide, combine, or mark into phrases; «phrase a musical passage» arrange, order, put, set up — arrange thoughts, ideas, temporal events; «arrange my schedule»; «set up one’s life»; «I put these memories with those of bygone times»

phrase

noun

1. expression, saying, remark, motto, construction, tag, quotation, maxim, idiom, utterance, adage, dictum, way of speaking, group of words, locution the Latin phrase, `mens sana in corpore sano’

verb

1. express, say, word, put, term, present, voice, frame, communicate, convey, utter, couch, formulate, put into words The speech was carefully phrased.

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

phrase

noun

1. A word or group of words forming a unit and conveying meaning:

2. Choice of words and the way in which they are used:

verb

To convey in language or words of a particular form:

Translations

عِبَارَةٌعِبارَة موسيقيَّهعِبارَهيَصوغُ الفِكْرَة في كَلِمات

изразявам

frase

frázeslovní spojenísouslovíformulovat

fraseordforbindelseudtrykkeformulere

عبارت

fraasifraseeratailmaistalauselauseen osa

izraz

frázisszókapcsolatzenei fráziskifejezésmondás

frasifrasi, orîasambandhendingmálshátturorîa

慣用句

문구

žodžių junginysžodžių parinkimasdėstytifrazėfrazinis veiksmažodis

formulētfrāzeizteikt vārdosvārdkopa

slovné spojenie

besedna zveza

frasfraserauttryck

วลี

cụm từ

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

phrase

(Gram) → Phrase f, → Satzglied nt → or -teil m; (in spoken language) → Phrase f; noun/verb phrase → Nominal-/Verbalphrase f

phrase

phrase marker

n (Ling) → P-Marker m, → Formationsmarker m

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

phrase

(freiz) noun

1. a small group of words (usually without a finite verb) which forms part of an actual or implied sentence. He arrived after dinner.

2. a small group of musical notes which follow each other to make a definite individual section of a melody. the opening phrase of the overture.

verb

to express (something) in words. I phrased my explanations in simple language.

phraseology (freiziˈolədʒi) noun

the manner of putting words and phrases together to express oneself. His phraseology shows that he is a foreigner.

ˈphrasing noun

1. phraseology.

2. the act of putting musical phrases together either in composing or playing.

ˈphrase-book noun

a book (eg for tourists) which contains and translates useful words and phrases in a foreign language.

phrasal verb

a phrase consisting of a verb and adverb or preposition, which together function as a verb. `Leave out’, `go without’, `go away’, are phrasal verbs.

phrase

→ عِبَارَةٌ fráze frase kurzer Satz φράση frase lauseen osa expression izraz frase 慣用句 문구 uitdrukking uttrykk wyrażenie frase фраза fras วลี sözcük grubu cụm từ 短语

Источник

Top Definitions
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Related Content
Examples
British
Cultural

This shows grade level based on the word’s complexity.

noun

Grammar.

a sequence of two or more words arranged in a grammatical construction and acting as a unit in a sentence.
(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.

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.

a characteristic, current, or proverbial expression: a hackneyed phrase.

Music. a division of a composition, commonly a passage of four or eight measures, forming part of a period.

a way of speaking, mode of expression, or phraseology: a book written in the phrase of the West.

a brief utterance or remark: In a phrase, he’s a dishonest man.

Dance. a sequence of motions making up part of a choreographic pattern.

verb (used with object), phrased, phras·ing.

to express or word in a particular way: to phrase an apology well.

to express in words: to phrase one’s thoughts.

Music.

to mark off or bring out the phrases of (a piece), especially in execution.
to group (notes) into a phrase.

verb (used without object), phrased, phras·ing.

Music. to perform a passage or piece with proper phrasing.

QUIZ

CAN YOU ANSWER THESE COMMON GRAMMAR DEBATES?

There are grammar debates that never die; and the ones highlighted in the questions in this quiz are sure to rile everyone up once again. Do you know how to answer the questions that cause some of the greatest grammar debates?

Which sentence is correct?

Origin of phrase

First recorded in 1520–30; (noun) back formation from phrases, plural of earlier phrasis, from Latin phrasis “diction, style” (plural phrasēs), from Greek phrásis “diction, style, speech,” equivalent to phrá(zein) “to speak” + -sis-sis; (verb) derivative of the noun

synonym study for phrase

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.

OTHER WORDS FROM phrase

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

WORDS THAT MAY BE CONFUSED WITH phrase

frays, phrase

Words nearby phrase

phr., phragmites, phragmoplast, phrasal, phrasal verb, phrase, phrase book, phrasemaker, phrase marker, phrasemonger, phraseogram

Words related to phrase

expression, idiom, motto, phrasing, remark, saying, slogan, terminology, utterance, wording, byword, catchphrase, catchword, diction, locution, maxim, parlance, phraseology, shibboleth, styling

How to use phrase in a sentence

In addition, if your website is an information resource, you are trying to capture lots of search phrases and not heavily relying on just a few that might be struck by an algorithm.
Aside from Alexa tech, Buick’s campaign includes a custom Alexa “utterance,” a phrase that lets people ask about the manufacturer’s vehicle from any device.
As far as I understand, recent work on Pirahã shows that you have this ability to stack noun phrases at the start of the sentence to mark them as the topic of the conversation.
For instance, researchers have shown that certain common phrases can activate voice assistants like Alexa, Google Assistant, and Apple’s Siri, creating potential privacy problems.

The good news is that you can use plenty of online tools to search for relevant phrases and add them to your content.
This same outlet worked the phrase “engagement to toyboy lover” into the headline of their article on Fry.
In 2007, Huckabee said he stood by these earlier remarks, but would phrase them differently.
I admit, I chuckled when I read the phrase “boomtown effects” in the New York report.
But the phrase “made it” does not properly describe Pomplamoose.
Interpreted more broadly, the phrase loses meaning: what constitutes the necessary threshold of realism?
No one ever argued with Levison; all understood that this particular phrase was final.
He was guilty of the weakness of taking refuge in what is called, I believe, in legal phrase, a side-issue.
It seeks the shortest phrase or sentence and adds successively all the modifiers, making no omissions.
Even if this colour scheme will not work, there is still a justification for the Asquithian phrase.
Here the “c” is hard and represents 7, and as the steamboat could easily outrun the “scow,” the phrase is easily remembered.

British Dictionary definitions for phrase

noun

a particular expression, esp an original one

music a small group of notes forming a coherent unit of melody

(in choreography) a short sequence of dance movements

verb (tr)

music to divide (a melodic line, part, etc) into musical phrases, esp in performance

to express orally or in a phrase

Word Origin for phrase

C16: from Latin phrasis, from Greek: speech, from phrazein to declare, tell

Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Cultural definitions for phrase

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.

Источник

Other forms: phrases; phrasing; phrased

The verb phrase means to articulate. You should be careful how you phrase your criticism of your boss. Saying he can be demanding is probably okay. Saying he is an ogre is probably not.

In grammar, a phrase is a group of words that is part of a sentence but can’t stand alone. In the sentence, «We should go to your house,» «to your house» is a phrase. A phrase can also be an idiomatic saying. If you told a foreign exchange student to «get off the fence» and pick a side in the debate, he might look puzzled at the phrase and say, «But I’m nowhere near a fence!»

Definitions of phrase

noun

an expression consisting of one or more words forming a grammatical constituent of a sentence
noun

an expression whose meanings cannot be inferred from the meanings of the words that make it up
verb

put into words or an expression
noun

a short musical passage
noun

dance movements that are linked in a single choreographic sequence
verb

divide, combine, or mark into phrases

“phrase a musical passage”

DISCLAIMER: These example sentences appear in various news sources and books to reflect the usage of the word ‘phrase’.
Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Vocabulary.com or its editors.
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