parentheses

Cultural  

1. Punctuation marks — ( ) — used to separate elements in a sentence. Parentheses subordinate (see subordination) the material within them so that readers save most of their attention for the rest of the sentence: “Aunt Sarah (who is really my mother's cousin) will be visiting next week.”

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Example Sentences

Parentheses and other Grouping Symbols: Simplify all expressions inside the parentheses or other grouping symbols, working on the innermost parentheses first.

From Textbooks • Apr. 22, 2020

Parentheses in fiction draw far too much attention to themselves.

From The Guardian • May 13, 2017

We use an “order of operations” rule we memorized in childhood: “Please forgive my dear Aunt Sally,” or PEMDAS, which stands for Parentheses Exponents Multiplication Division Addition Subtraction.

From Slate • Mar. 12, 2013

Pg 66 When an Accidental Is in Parentheses Please tell me how a chord or an interval marked thus, is executed.

From Piano Playing: With Piano Questions Answered by Hofmann, Josef

Parentheses in literature and dentistry are in bad taste.

From A Tramp Abroad — Volume 07 by Twain, Mark