paragraph
Americannoun
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a distinct portion of written or printed matter dealing with a particular idea, usually beginning with an indentation on a new line.
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a note, item, or brief article, as in a newspaper.
verb (used with object)
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to divide into paragraphs.
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to write or publish paragraphs about, as in a newspaper.
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to express in a paragraph.
noun
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(in a piece of writing) one of a series of subsections each usually devoted to one idea and each usually marked by the beginning of a new line, indentation, increased interlinear space, etc
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printing the character ¶, used as a reference mark or to indicate the beginning of a new paragraph
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a short article in a newspaper
verb
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to form into paragraphs
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to express or report in a paragraph
Other Word Forms
- paragraphic adjective
- paragraphically adverb
- paragraphism noun
- paragraphistical adjective
- subparagraph noun
- unparagraphed adjective
- well-paragraphed adjective
Etymology
Origin of paragraph
1515–25; earlier paragraphe < Greek paragraphḗ marked passage; para- 1, graph
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.
It’s right there, the opening sentence of the second paragraph in the Fiscal Year 2027 Topline document just posted on the White House website.
From MarketWatch • Apr. 3, 2026
Within a paragraph, Alito then suggested that Scalia would have been “appalled” by the ugliness, the coarseness of the discourse.
From Slate • Feb. 13, 2026
“I was like, this is basically the same paragraph repeated three times,” says the 45-year-old.
From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 5, 2026
The current hearing largely focuses on one paragraph in the 2022 settlement that defines — in retrospect, poorly — seven metrics of progress the city must report to the court quarterly.
From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 16, 2026
I stare at a single paragraph for a quarter of an hour but can’t absorb it.
From "Water for Elephants" by Sara Gruen
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.
