amphibology

American

[am-fuh-bol-uh-jee] / ˌæm fəˈbɒl ə dʒi /

noun

plural

amphibologies

amphiboly.

amphibology British

/ æmˌfɪbəˈlɒdʒɪkəl, æmˈfɪbəlɪ, ˌæmfɪˈbɒlədʒɪ, æmˈfɪbələs /

noun

ambiguity of expression, esp when due to a grammatical construction, as in save rags and waste paper

"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

Other Word Forms

Etymology

Origin of amphibology

1325–75; Middle English amphibologie < Late Latin amphibologia. See amphiboly, -logy

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.

Amphibology posits that there are many different kinds of language, “purely mental, purely vocal, purely written and a mixture of these,” all of which blend together to produce a true or false statement.

From Slate • Feb. 6, 2015

Amphibology, am-fib-ol′o-ji, n. the use of ambiguous phrases or such as can be construed in two senses.

From Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 1 of 4: A-D) by Various

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023