phrase

Meanings

1. 1
   verb

   divide, combine, or mark into phrases

   phrase a musical passage

2. 2
   noun

   A word or, more commonly, a group of words that functions as a single unit in the syntax of a sentence, always containing an expressed or implied head (the principal word or subgroup, with core importance) and often consisting of a head plus some other elaborating words.

   Holonyms: clause, sentence; phrasing, phraseology, turn of phrase; phrase-book; document, message; language; communication

3. 3
   noun

   A mode or form of speech; diction; expression.

   Thou speak'st / In better phrase and matter than thou didst.

4. 4
   verb

   To express (an action, thought or idea) by means of particular words.

   I wasn't sure how to phrase my condolences without sounding patronising.

5. 5
   noun

   dance movements that are linked in a single choreographic sequence

6. 6
   noun

   an expression consisting of one or more words forming a grammatical constituent of a sentence

7. 7
   noun

   a short musical passage

8. 8
   noun

   an expression whose meanings cannot be inferred from the meanings of the words that make it up

Etymology

From Late Latin phrasis (“diction”), from Ancient Greek φράσις (phrásis, “manner of expression”), from φράζω (phrázō, “to tell, express”).