excerpt
Americannoun
-
excerpts
plural
verb (used with object)
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excerpts,
present (3rd person singular)
-
excerpted,
past participle, past
-
excerpting
present participle
-
to take or select (a passage) from a book, film, or the like; extract.
-
to take or select passages from (a book, film, or the like); abridge by choosing representative sections.
noun
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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excerptsimple
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excerptssimple
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have excerptedperfect
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has excerptedperfect
-
am excerptingprogressive
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are excerptingprogressive
-
is excerptingprogressive
-
have been excerptingperfect progressive
-
has been excerptingperfect progressive
Past
-
excerptedsimple
-
had excerptedperfect
-
was excerptingprogressive
-
were excerptingprogressive
-
had been excerptingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of excerpt
First recorded in 1375–1425; late Middle English, from Latin excerptus “picked out,” past participle of excerpere “to pick out, pluck out,” from ex- ex- 1 + -cerpere, combining form of carpere “to pluck”
Explanation
Instead of sharing all 147 lines of your favorite poem in class, you might want to read an excerpt, that is, just a part of the verses, so no one dozes off. Excerpt sounds a lot like "except" with an added "r," and it came into English in the 16th century from a Latin word meaning "plucked out." When the word is used as a verb, excerpt means to take a portion out, usually from a play, book, article, song, or other written work. And the part that is taken out also is called an excerpt, but it is a noun, that is, a thing. An excerpt is something you excerpt, or pluck out, from a larger piece.
Vocabulary lists containing excerpt
Power Prefix: ex-
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Jim Burke's Academic Vocabulary List
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STAAR Grade 8 Reading: The Language of the Test, List 1
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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:
The excerpt below is a scene from a dinner party in which one character launches into a riff about the pervasiveness of Yotam Ottolenghi’s cookbook recipes at social gatherings.
From Slate ● Aug. 15, 2026
The Canadian director is also the last voice you hear on Music, Fashion, Film, in an excerpt of an "hour-long" conversation he had with Charli last year,.
From BBC ● Jul. 24, 2026
We hear an excerpt from a review by William Logan, poetry’s dean of critical defenestration, condemning her work for its pretty plainness.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 2, 2026
National Prayer Breakfast, as highlighted in the excerpt above.
From Salon ● May 29, 2026
Here's an excerpt: I’m so incredibly proud of you.
From "Americanized" by Sara Saedi
In her 70s, Castañeda testified before state legislators about her experience, excerpts of which appear in the exhibition.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 24, 2026
But although no other media outlet has independently confirmed the letters’ authenticity, they match excerpts the New York Times quoted in a 2024 story about Harp joining the White House.
From Slate ● Aug. 21, 2026
In 2021, Meghan won a High Court ruling against the Mail on Sunday after the paper published excerpts from a private letter she had written to her estranged father in 2019.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 21, 2026
Plaid Cymru, newly installed in government in Wales, is still experimenting with its approach, using First Minister Rhun Ap Iorweth in "fun" memes while also posting more serious interview excerpts.
From BBC ● Aug. 20, 2026
The English papers carried excerpts of the senator’s speech and briefly mentioned my father.
From "The Chosen" by Chaim Potok
A portion of their conversation, edited and condensed for clarity, has been excerpted below.
From Slate ● May 12, 2026
In the climate science chapter, footnote 77 says “discussion of attribution research has been adapted, and, in some cases, excerpted from the authors’ prior publications on this topic.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 13, 2026
But his brother Craig’s memorializing of him, “Armed Only With a Camera,” is oddly uninvolving, more an excerpted flipbook of Brent’s far-flung assignments than a meaningful portrait of excelling at a dangerous job.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 20, 2026
This interview was excerpted from Artists in Space by Mr. Wash, available to order on Feb. 16.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 11, 2026
Consider the “virtually” in the letter of recommendation excerpted above.
From "The Sense of Style" by Steven Pinker
Cowley worked his magic again in launching Jack Kerouac’s career, spending years talking up and excerpting “On the Road” in magazines before publishing the 1957 Beat touchstone with Viking to immediate acclaim.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 7, 2025
Its formula is to hire two or three reporters per city and fill out newsletters by excerpting stories from existing local outlets.
From Seattle Times ● Aug. 10, 2022
It approaches the text in ways both abstract and overly literal, sometimes excerpting entire paragraphs.
From New York Times ● Feb. 17, 2020
Even at 82, Steinem says the experience taught her something: “It made me understand the dangers of excerpting a few words.”
From Time ● May 5, 2016
With this in mind he read countless authors of different ages and countries, a total of around 50,000 epigrams, from most of which nothing at all was worth excerpting.
From An Essay on True and Apparent Beauty in which from Settled Principles is Rendered the Grounds for Choosing and Rejecting Epigrams by J. V. (James Vincent) Cunningham
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.
