phrase
(frāz)
[Latin phrasis, diction, from Greek, speech, diction, phrase, from phrazein, to point out, show.]
noun
- A sequence of words intended to have meaning.
- A characteristic way or mode of expression.
- A brief, apt, and cogent expression.
- A word or group of words read or spoken as a unit and separated by pauses or other junctures.
- Grammar Two or more words in sequence that form a syntactic unit that is less than a complete sentence.
- Music A short passage or segment, often consisting of four measures or forming part of a larger unit.
- A series of dance movements forming a unit in a choreographic pattern.
verb: phrased, phras·ing, phras·es.
transitive verb
- To express orally or in writing: The speaker phrased several opinions.
- To pace or mark off (something read aloud or spoken) by pauses.
- Music
- To divide (a passage) into phrases.
- To combine (notes) in a phrase.
intransitive verb
- To make or render phrases, as in reading aloud.
- Music To perform a passage with the correct phrasing.
derivatives
- phraśal
- adjective
- phraśal·ly
- adverb
