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

Translated word for word, they become something parseable only by a bilingual transportation engineer, not by the people the projects are supposed to serve.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 28, 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

Often, “Eddington” plays out so formally and predictably that it’s like watching someone write out the thing that’s making them anxious on paper, word for word.

From Salon • Jul. 20, 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

I could sing Nelly and Kelly Rowland’s “Dilemma” word for word, but I had no idea what the words meant.

From "How Dare the Sun Rise" by Sandra Uwiringiyimana