word for word

American  

adverb

1. in exactly the same words; verbatim.

2. one word at a time, without regard for the sense of the whole.

   She translated the book word for word.

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word for word Idioms  

1. Exactly as written or spoken, as in That was the forecast, word for word. Chaucer used this idiom in the late 1300s.

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Other Word Forms

• word-for-word
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of word for word

Middle English word dating back to 1350–1400

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

word for word

That’s almost word for word the same explanation Sarah Sanders gave when she left Trump’s first administration.

From Salon ● Aug. 14, 2026

That doesn’t mean your private chats about your colleague or spouse are going to show up word for word in someone else’s chat session a year or two from now.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 31, 2025

"I sat down for 12 hours in one day, learning it word for word, note for note," he says.

From BBC ● Aug. 3, 2024

At points, she repeated lines almost word for word: “When we organize, mountains move,” she said.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 24, 2024

I think I know every episode word for word.

From "The Hate U Give" by Angie Thomas