phrase
Americannoun
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phrases
plural
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Grammar.
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a sequence of two or more words arranged in a grammatical construction and acting as a unit in a sentence.
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(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.
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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.
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a characteristic, current, or proverbial expression.
a hackneyed phrase.
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Music. a division of a composition, commonly a passage of four or eight measures, forming part of a period.
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a way of speaking, mode of expression, or phraseology.
a book written in the phrase of the West.
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a brief utterance or remark.
In a phrase, he's a dishonest man.
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Dance. a sequence of motions making up part of a choreographic pattern.
verb (used with object)
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phrases,
present (3rd person singular)
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phrased,
past participle, past
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phrasing
present participle
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to express or word in a particular way.
to phrase an apology well.
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to express in words.
to phrase one's thoughts.
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Music.
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to mark off or bring out the phrases of (a piece), especially in execution.
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to group (notes) into a phrase.
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verb (used without object)
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phrases,
present (3rd person singular)
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phrased,
past participle, past
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phrasing
present participle
noun
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a group of words forming an immediate syntactic constituent of a clause Compare clause noun phrase verb phrase
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a particular expression, esp an original one
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music a small group of notes forming a coherent unit of melody
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(in choreography) a short sequence of dance movements
verb
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music to divide (a melodic line, part, etc) into musical phrases, esp in performance
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to express orally or in a phrase
Synonym Usage
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 Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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phrasesimple
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phrasessimple
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have phrasedperfect
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has phrasedperfect
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am phrasingprogressive
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are phrasingprogressive
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is phrasingprogressive
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have been phrasingperfect progressive
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has been phrasingperfect progressive
Past
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phrasedsimple
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had phrasedperfect
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was phrasingprogressive
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were phrasingprogressive
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had been phrasingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
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
Explanation
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!"
Vocabulary lists containing phrase
PARCC: Language of the Test (Grade7)
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The SAT: Language of the Test, List 4
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TEKS ELAR Academic Vocabulary List (5th-7th grades)
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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:
Deutsche Bank recently found the phrase “broad-based” cropping up repeatedly in earnings calls.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 13, 2026
The belief that promoted sides that stayed up in their first season are often relegated in their second is a popular one, with the phrase 'second-season syndrome' regularly thrown about.
From BBC ● Aug. 13, 2026
Dogs are often called 'man's best friend', and their long history with people gives that phrase real weight.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 10, 2026
Because working-class voters, as they tell us themselves, are not simply waiting to be activated by the right program, messenger or phrase.
From Salon ● Aug. 9, 2026
Ruffling my curls, he said that same phrase he’d been saying since he’d lost his job.
From "Sir Fig Newton and the Science of Persistence" by Sonja Thomas
Cole's vocal tics tend to include the names of her husband, her son or the family cat or random phrases such as "good night" during the day time.
From BBC ● Aug. 11, 2026
The union said that despite repeated demands to improve workplace conditions -- including mounting protest phrases on trucks -- the company had "ultimately ignored partners' demands, instead unilaterally introducing even more burdensome promotional events".
From Barron's ● Jul. 19, 2026
Scientists have previously used phrases such as "metallike biomaterials" or "biomaterials with metallike properties" for biological substances that resemble metals in strength or electrical conductivity.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 16, 2026
Quijada and Robinson invite us into the process of making their musical, constructing the show’s soundscape and musical score in real time by recording musical phrases into a looping station and layering in sound.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 15, 2026
Often, phrases come in definite pairs, with the first phrase feeling very unfinished until it is completed by the second phrase, as if the second phrase were answering a question asked by the first phrase.
From "Understanding Basic Music Theory" by Catherine Schmidt-Jones and Russel Jones
When she was called upon, she gave perfect answers—whole paragraphs, precisely phrased.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 21, 2026
Pochin has apologised for her remarks, saying they were "phrased poorly" but maintained that many adverts were "unrepresentative of British society".
From BBC ● Oct. 27, 2025
It’s also important to know how a poll question is phrased and, in the case of a ballot measure, how it describes the matter voters are being asked to decide.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 24, 2025
As I phrased it back when I first wrote about the dish, “The cheeses meld together to form the most delicious, frico-laced roasted and blistered fennel imaginable.”
From Salon ● Mar. 15, 2025
River Styx or no, the way Sciron phrased his promise didn’t reassure her.
From "The House of Hades" by Rick Riordan
A UK government spokesperson said: "We have previously acknowledged this phrasing and took immediate steps to ensure it was not replicated."
From BBC ● Aug. 6, 2026
Patel’s style has been built around dark insinuation, and in this case his phrasing was official enough to seem consequential, yet vague enough to be exploited.
From Salon ● Jul. 13, 2026
This phrasing appears to reserve press conferences for big announcements — a change from the past few Fed chairs who spoke to reporters four and then eight times a year after monetary-policy decisions.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 10, 2026
Even in April, three officials, including Logan, dissented against the phrasing in the policy statement that suggested more cuts are ahead.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 3, 2026
Once on the long-distance telephone, Betty told me in beautiful phrasing the way she thinks.
From "The Autobiography of Malcolm X" by Alex Malcolm X;Hailey
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.
