phrase — English Dictionary

Noun

1. A short written or spoken expression.

   Broader terms

   syntagma

   Examples

   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.

   Broader terms

   utterance

   Examples

   Holonyms: clause, sentence; phrasing, phraseology, turn of phrase; phrase-book; document, message; language; communication

   Meronyms: head, complement, adjunct, supplement, modifier; term, word

   More examples (2)

   Congratulations on managing to use the phrase “preponderant criterion” in a chart (“On your marks”, November 9th). Was this the work of a kakorrhaphiophobic journalist set a challenge by his colleagues, or simply an example of glossolalia?

   There is always a head in a phrase. When it is not accompanied by anything else, we have a one-word phrase. Cheese can be an NP [noun phrase], and so can squid. If we didn't allow one-word phrases, we'd often have to say "either a noun or an NP," "either a verb or a VP," and so on. When I talk about a phrase, always remember that I don't mean a unit containing more than one word; I mean a unit with at least one word (the head), which may contain other words as well.

3. A small section of music in a larger piece.

4. A mode or form of speech; diction; expression.

   Usage

   • Archaic

   Examples

   Thou speak'st / In better phrase and matter than thou didst.

   […] From out a common vein of memory / Sweet household talk, and phrases of the hearth, […]

5. A short individual motion forming part of a choreographed dance.

Verb

1. To express (an action, thought or idea) by means of particular words.

   Usage

   • Transitive

   Examples

   I wasn't sure how to phrase my condolences without sounding patronising.

   These suns — for so they phrase 'em.

   More examples (1)

   Little disappointed, then, she turned attention to "Chat of the Social World," gossip which exercised potent fascination upon the girl's intelligence. She devoured with more avidity than she had her food those pretentiously phrased chronicles of the snobocracy—[…]—distilling therefrom an acid envy that robbed her napoleon of all its flavor.

2. To perform (a passage) with a particular phrasing.

   Usage

   • Intransitive
   • Transitive

3. To divide into melodic phrases.

   Usage

   • Transitive

Noun

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

   Broader terms

   constructiongrammatical constructionexpression

2. a short musical passage

   Synonyms

   musical phrase

   Broader terms

   passagemusical passage

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

   Synonyms

   idiomidiomatic expressionphrasal idiomset phrase

   Broader terms

   sayingexpressionlocution

4. dance movements that are linked in a single choreographic sequence

   Broader terms

   dancingdanceterpsichoresaltation

Verb

1. put into words or an expression

   Synonyms

   give voiceformulatewordarticulate

   Broader terms

   expressshowevince

   Examples

   He formulated his concerns to the board of trustees

2. divide, combine, or mark into phrases

   Broader terms

   arrangeset upputorder

   Examples

   phrase a musical passage