paragraph
Americannoun
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a distinct portion of written or printed matter dealing with a particular idea, usually beginning with an indentation on a new line.
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a note, item, or brief article, as in a newspaper.
verb (used with object)
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to divide into paragraphs.
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to write or publish paragraphs about, as in a newspaper.
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to express in a paragraph.
noun
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(in a piece of writing) one of a series of subsections each usually devoted to one idea and each usually marked by the beginning of a new line, indentation, increased interlinear space, etc
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printing the character ¶, used as a reference mark or to indicate the beginning of a new paragraph
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a short article in a newspaper
verb
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to form into paragraphs
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to express or report in a paragraph
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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paragraphismnoun
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subparagraphnoun
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paragraphicadjective
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paragraphisticaladjective
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unparagraphedadjective
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well-paragraphedadjective
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paragraphicallyadverb
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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paragraphsimple
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paragraphssimple
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have paragraphedperfect
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has paragraphedperfect
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am paragraphingprogressive
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are paragraphingprogressive
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is paragraphingprogressive
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have been paragraphingperfect progressive
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has been paragraphingperfect progressive
Past
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paragraphedsimple
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had paragraphedperfect
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was paragraphingprogressive
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were paragraphingprogressive
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had been paragraphingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of paragraph
1515–25; earlier paragraphe < Greek paragraphḗ marked passage; see para- 1, graph
Explanation
A full page of text with no visible breaks is hard to read. That’s why you break your ideas up into groups of sentences, called paragraphs. Each paragraph contains logically connected sentences about one main idea. If your teacher asks you to write a paragraph on learning vocabulary words, you will write several sentences that describe how to learn vocabulary. Each sentence will add to the topic and will connect one to the other. The length of a paragraph will vary. Your teacher might require just three or four sentences to accurately describe vocabulary learning. Unless he’s a fan of James Joyce. Then your paragraph might need to extend for pages and pages.
Vocabulary lists containing paragraph
PARCC: Language of the Test (Grade7)
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Write On!: Graph and Gram
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The SAT: Language of the Test, List 4
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Notably, the paragraph says nothing about the U.S. making arrangements for the safe passage of vessels, which Iran has seized on to attack ships that use a U.S.-coordinated route, the official said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 9, 2026
It’s almost too stunning to carry on after hearing such news—but to a second paragraph of this entry we must go.
From Slate ● Jun. 19, 2026
The first paragraph of the agreement notes that the US, Iran and allies will declare an "immediate and permanent" termination of military operations on "all fronts" - including Lebanon.
From BBC ● Jun. 17, 2026
I had to pause momentarily while writing this paragraph just to wipe a tear from the corner of my eye.
From Salon ● Jun. 6, 2026
If you wrote a paragraph on Marilyn Monroe’s face, without telling me whom you were writing about, could I guess who it was?
From "Blink" by Malcolm Gladwell
Skip the next two paragraphs if you want to hold onto the film’s purest pleasures.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 25, 2026
Its policy statement on Wednesday consisted of four short paragraphs, while previous statements, such as the one in April, included traditional boilerplate items, comments on recent events and details of policy votes by committee members.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 18, 2026
Trump and his aides have heralded as a major accomplishment the eighth of the framework’s 14 paragraphs, which states: “The Islamic Republic of Iran reaffirms that it shall not procure or develop nuclear weapons.”
From Slate ● Jun. 17, 2026
Nonetheless, just two short paragraphs generated a great deal of controversy.
From BBC ● Jun. 10, 2026
It would mean he skipped his last year of high school, but that’s entirely possible considering how he spoke in incomprehensible scientific paragraphs when he got going.
From "I'll Give You the Sun" by Jandy Nelson
The first word of every group of words paragraphed separately in an itemized list, as in an order for merchandise.
From Business English A Practice Book by Buhlig, Rose
The ear of society?—they were talking, or almost, as if he had publicly paragraphed a modest young lady.
From The Wings of the Dove, Volume II by James, Henry
But I have paragraphed it in the Nation, to which I refer you.
From The Letters of Henry James (volume I) by James, Henry
Let the reader only remember what I have just said, that most of them are miserably reported, paragraphed and stopped, and make allowance accordingly.
From A Sketch of the Life and Labors of George Whitefield by Ryle, John Charles
They are very brief, follow a prescribed form and, if necessary, are paragraphed in the same way as the letter.
From Military Instructors Manual by Schoonmaker, Oliver
Identify how genre conventions for structure, paragraphing, tone, and mechanics vary.
From Textbooks ● Dec. 21, 2021
Determine how genre conventions for structure, paragraphing, tone, and mechanics vary.
From Textbooks ● Dec. 21, 2021
It's a massive book, littered with obscure references, and is written almost entirely in unattributed speech, with no chapter breaks and very little paragraphing.
From The Guardian ● Jan. 22, 2013
Caro now says that Shawn agreed to restore all the changes he cared most deeply about, but the magazine version nevertheless differs from the original and changes Caro’s punctuation and paragraphing.
From New York Times ● Apr. 12, 2012
Among the many dumb rules of paragraphing foisted on students in composition courses is the one that says that a paragraph may not consist of a single sentence.
From "The Sense of Style" by Steven Pinker
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
