compound sentence


noun
  1. a sentence containing two or more coordinate independent clauses, usually joined by one or more conjunctions, but no dependent clause, as The lightning flashed (independent clause) and (conjunction) the rain fell (independent clause).

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Origin of compound sentence

1
First recorded in 1765–75

Words Nearby compound sentence

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use compound sentence in a sentence

  • Remember that the independent clauses of a compound sentence are very nearly the same as simple sentences.

    English: Composition and Literature | W. F. (William Franklin) Webster
  • The following sentences illustrate the common relations that may exist between the clauses of a compound sentence.

    English: Composition and Literature | W. F. (William Franklin) Webster
  • There is another condition which masses many details into one compound sentence.

    English: Composition and Literature | W. F. (William Franklin) Webster
  • What one of the relations of a compound sentence does the second part bear to the first?

    English: Composition and Literature | W. F. (William Franklin) Webster
  • In a compound sentence the object is to make two or more full statements.

    An English Grammar | W. M. Baskervill and J. W. Sewell

British Dictionary definitions for compound sentence

compound sentence

noun
  1. a sentence containing at least two coordinate clauses

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

Cultural definitions for compound sentence

compound sentence

A sentence that contains at least two independent clauses, often joined by conjunctions: “Dr. Watson explained his theory, and Sherlock Holmes listened quietly.” (Compare complex sentence, compound-complex sentence, and simple sentence.)

The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.