word for word

See synonyms for word for word on Thesaurus.com
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.

Origin of word for word

1
Middle English word dating back to 1350–1400

Other words from word for word

  • word-for-word, adjective

Words Nearby word for word

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use word for word in a sentence

Other Idioms and Phrases with word for word

word for word

Exactly as written or spoken, as in That was the forecast, word for word. Chaucer used this idiom in the late 1300s.

The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.