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What is "phrase"

Crossword clues for phrase

phrase
Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
phrase
I.noun
COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES
borrow a phrase (=use what someone else has said)
▪ To borrow a phrase, if you can’t stand the heat, get out of the kitchen.
prepositional phrase
COLLOCATIONS FROM CORPUS
■ ADJECTIVE
famous
▪ Neville Chamberlain's famous phrase says it all.
▪ I had not then heard the famous phrase.
favourite
▪ Never has his favourite phrase sounded so dismally precise: My, my, ain't the world strange.
key
▪ Robert, who found he was sweating, started to try to recall some key phrases from Marwan Ibrahim Al-Kaysi.
▪ Each one was slightly different - but key phrases were repeated.
▪ The implication can be seen by thinking of the instruction part and the key phrase or word.
▪ The key factor, phrase or words bold Use a different colour or symbol to identify each part of your question.
▪ Include in the card any figures, quotations, names, key phrases or other material which you wish to state exactly.
▪ Intended to develop recognition and efficient production of key functional phrases, improve listening ability, and expand basic business vocabulary.
▪ The key factor, phrase or word is more important than the main topic.
▪ You could even underline key phrases or words in your speech notes.
prepositional
▪ This network defines acceptable noun phrases as consisting of the categories determiner, optional adjective string, noun and optional prepositional phrases.
▪ In fact, a large part of the syntactic complexity of the sentence comes from the use of prepositional phrases.
short
▪ Most of their examples show the activation of a single word or a short phrase.
▪ Paul had mostly very short phrases left in him, but there was one long exclamation he could still put together.
▪ The choreographer can make an overall rhythm fur a long phrase of music and within it shorter phrases.
▪ This should be extended to include short colloquial phrases.
▪ These are marked by three of the dancers whilst another performs a solo to a short phrase.
■ NOUN
book
▪ She had read the words, widen your scope, in a phrase book.
▪ He drew out the phrase book and flicked through the pages.
▪ He placed the phrase book on the table beside the coffee.
▪ My Swahili, such as it is, comes from a Berlitz tape and a phrase book.
▪ With only his home-made phrase book to help him, Twoflower was trying to explain the mysteries of inn-sewer-ants to Broadman.
noun
▪ Church augmented his tagging program to locate noun phrases.
▪ The probability of each part of speech starting and ending a noun phrase was then determined from this data.
▪ Impressive results were obtained, with only 5 out of 243 noun phrase brackets being omitted.
▪ Similarly, the noun phrase object can be questioned just like any other.
▪ In both cases, we have a minor constituent of the category noun phrase without any special marking.
▪ This network defines acceptable noun phrases as consisting of the categories determiner, optional adjective string, noun and optional prepositional phrases.
▪ By his analysis almost two thirds of these noun phrase types are represented only once.
verb
▪ Subcategorization for noun phrases and verb phrases of all types. iii.
■ VERB
borrow
▪ Well, to borrow another phrase from film, that was then and this is now.
coin
▪ He was going to have fun if it killed him, to coin a phrase.
▪ I had to find out the hard way - to coin a phrase.
▪ In a school gymnasium full of caucus-goers in Des Moines, Dole inadvertently coined the best phrase of this perplexing campaign.
▪ But Michael Foot was a formidable orator and on occasions he could coin a phrase which captured the mood perfectly.
▪ The corner is awkward, much more awkward than was recognised when, in 1965, Professor Robinson coined the phrase.
▪ The problems faced by dual-career families have been well researched since the Rapoports coined the phrase in 1969.
▪ It is an odd sidelight, to coin a phrase, on road accidents.
contain
▪ Does the text contain idiomatic phrases and if so, with what kind of dialect or register are these idioms associated?
▪ The prosurvival engram is not a manic; it can and does contain at times manic phrases.
▪ It contained words and phrases likely to cause offence-this time to blacks.
hear
▪ He had just remembered where he'd heard the phrase with which Crepi had rung off.
▪ You select an Esperanto phrase, then hear the phrase as spoken by a native speaker.
▪ She could hear him repeating phrases to himself through the thin wall between her room and his.
▪ We hear those phrases all the time.
▪ How many times had she heard the phrase that she had just used so easily.
▪ I had not then heard the famous phrase.
include
▪ Development of this method to cope with other types of phrases would require a larger training set that included these phrase types.
▪ The page includes a phrase generator for making generic gossip, and two extensive bits on George Stephanopoulos.
▪ This should be extended to include short colloquial phrases.
▪ The experimental law will include a phrase to counter the excuse offered by many bowlers when their actions are questioned.
▪ That is to say, it includes homophones and homophonic phrases.
▪ When the nouns are used with numerals the appropriate classifier word must be included in the phrase.
mean
▪ In natural conversation the smooth flow and blending of sounds mean that whole phrases make a phonetic whole.
▪ Linney and Ruffalo's relationship gives meaning to the phrase emotional intelligence.
▪ What did she mean by the phrase?
repeat
▪ The resource person may correct a serious error and repeat the phrase again but with no trace of disapproval or reproach.
▪ His scripts are full of little gems, repeated phrases, unexplained back story and odd rhythms.
▪ He repeated the words and phrases while his father looked proudly on.
▪ As Primo unpacks and carries stacks of books and clothes into the bedroom he repeats aloud the phrases from the program.
▪ That indeed is the principle of the lullaby, whose slow rhythm and repeated words and phrases promote a state of drowsiness.
▪ He always repeats certain phrases over and over.
▪ But don't just repeat the phrase hundreds of times in a tiny point size.
use
▪ Our door is painted a bright green colour with numerous messages using inappropriate language and phrases covering its exterior.
▪ Maybe the child who had first heard that story would use that phrase, but not the scientist talking to me now.
▪ The drafter should also take care to use defined words and phrases consistently.
▪ It seems so natural to use this phrase that we too easily forget its implications.
▪ I said, using one of his phrases.
▪ We used the same phrase once.
▪ I was simply using that phrase as a synonym for a short, single event.
PHRASES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
a few choice words/phrases
▪ Meyer had a few choice words for federal bureaucrats after an error listed him as deceased.
▪ And he also had a few choice words about my means of protecting myself.
▪ Or has rapper Puff been on the blower from New York with a few choice words?
for want of a better word/phrase etc
▪ Just horses and ploughs and, for want of a better word, peasants.
▪ Now, hands are, well, handed for want of a better word.
idiomatic expression/phrase
▪ Does the text contain idiomatic phrases and if so, with what kind of dialect or register are these idioms associated?
to coin a phrase
▪ Miller was trying to help his career and, to coin a phrase, snatch victory from the jaws of defeat.
▪ He was going to have fun if it killed him, to coin a phrase.
▪ I had to find out the hard way - to coin a phrase.
▪ It is an odd sidelight, to coin a phrase, on road accidents.
turn a phrase
▪ To turn a phrase in the midst of my instability.
turn of phrase
▪ For most of us, however, these are all metaphors, turns of phrase.
▪ He had a happy turn of phrase.
▪ He was a slow-talking Mississippian with a penchant for the rustic turn of phrase and a gift for storytelling.
▪ His brilliant turns of phrase, his dark, brooding eyes tempted me.
▪ It demands complicated puns, archaic semantic associations, and other comic turns of phrase.
▪ It was his habitual turn of phrase.
▪ Kant was not noted for his turn of phrase-his style was usually a plodding one.
▪ Sorry, an unfortunate turn of phrase, but maybe not so inaccurate.
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
▪ "A bottle of whisky' is a noun phrase, and "really rather foolishly' is an adverb phrase.
▪ Are you familiar with the phrase "the old boy network'?
▪ Darwin gave the world the phrase, "survival of the fittest."
▪ His campaign is, to use one of his favourite phrases, 'as dead as Elvis'.
▪ I'm trying to learn some French phrases for my trip to Paris.
▪ I was criticized for using the phrase 'gay lifestyles'.
▪ The phrase 'a big black dog' is the subject of the sentence.
▪ The battle of El Alamein was, in Churchill's phrase, "the end of the beginning'.
▪ The head of the bank described the salary cuts as 'peanuts', a turn of phrase which angered many bank workers.
▪ There are some useful words and phrases at the end of each chapter in the Student's Book.
▪ Who first coined the phrase "Iron Curtain'?
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
▪ After each phrase she slurped saliva in through her teeth.
▪ Like title fights, the Super Bowl would need a catchy name or phrase that symbolizes the magnitude of the cosmic event.
▪ Motifs Composers have sometimes used a recurring motif or melodic phrase to establish the atmosphere of a piece.
▪ Similarly there is also a probability distribution over the ordering of items in a phrase.
▪ The Interpreter features excellent quality, digitised speech and over 13,000 phrases.
▪ Very often a student creates his first phrase and then finds himself at a loss.
II.verb
COLLOCATIONS FROM CORPUS
■ NOUN
question
▪ How could I phrase the question so that I could distinguish between free choice and manipulative coercion?
▪ He had to admit it was an ingenious way to phrase the question to a young audience.
▪ What the camera did was help you phrase questions.
▪ The child must phrase questions with care, compare and record answers, sift evidence and deduce the identity of the criminal.
▪ It's important to phrase the question correctly.
way
▪ The way they are phrased may make it hard for us to understand their origin.
▪ He had to admit it was an ingenious way to phrase the question to a young audience.
▪ The way she phrased it transformed the statement into a question.
▪ Most physicists would object to this way of phrasing things.
▪ Any message varies according to the way it is phrased.
word
▪ The course involves very little writing, except for words and phrases the students must scribble in the blanks on the pages.
▪ It matters little what value that particular philosophy or religion attaches to the use of the word, phrase or prayer.
▪ This enables them to slip over the difficult words or phrases, while following the central plot.
PHRASES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
a few choice words/phrases
▪ Meyer had a few choice words for federal bureaucrats after an error listed him as deceased.
▪ And he also had a few choice words about my means of protecting myself.
▪ Or has rapper Puff been on the blower from New York with a few choice words?
for want of a better word/phrase etc
▪ Just horses and ploughs and, for want of a better word, peasants.
▪ Now, hands are, well, handed for want of a better word.
idiomatic expression/phrase
▪ Does the text contain idiomatic phrases and if so, with what kind of dialect or register are these idioms associated?
turn of phrase
▪ For most of us, however, these are all metaphors, turns of phrase.
▪ He had a happy turn of phrase.
▪ He was a slow-talking Mississippian with a penchant for the rustic turn of phrase and a gift for storytelling.
▪ His brilliant turns of phrase, his dark, brooding eyes tempted me.
▪ It demands complicated puns, archaic semantic associations, and other comic turns of phrase.
▪ It was his habitual turn of phrase.
▪ Kant was not noted for his turn of phrase-his style was usually a plodding one.
▪ Sorry, an unfortunate turn of phrase, but maybe not so inaccurate.
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
▪ How was the question phrased?
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
▪ But something was missing, politeness maybe. although the inquiries were phrased nicely, the interest seemed like condescension.
▪ However, I would argue that it begs the question to phrase it in such a way.
▪ It could equally be phrased in a way that fits in more with the way of eminence.
▪ The phrasing is ample and idiomatic, the sincerity is heartbreaking.
▪ The ways various denyers, bouncers, et al., can be phrased are always beyond count.
▪ What makes you successful is that you can phrase things in a way that is inspirational, that makes coalitions possible.
▪ Whether or not they can sing, all these players have a tremendous understanding of how to phrase.
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Phrase

Phrase \Phrase\, n. [F., fr. L. phrasis diction, phraseology, Gr. ?, fr. ? to speak.]

  1. A brief expression, sometimes a single word, but usually two or more words forming an expression by themselves, or being a portion of a sentence; as, an adverbial phrase.

    ``Convey'' the wise it call. ``Steal!'' foh! a fico for the phrase.
    --Shak.

  2. A short, pithy expression; especially, one which is often employed; a peculiar or idiomatic turn of speech; as, to err is human.

  3. A mode or form of speech; the manner or style in which any one expreses himself; diction; expression. ``Phrases of the hearth.''
    --Tennyson.

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

  4. (Mus.) A short clause or portion of a period.

    Note: A composition consists first of sentences, or periods; these are subdivided into sections, and these into phrases.

    Phrase book, a book of idiomatic phrases.
    --J. S. Blackie.

Phrase

Phrase \Phrase\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Phrased; p. pr. & vb. n. Phrasing.] [Cf. F. phraser.] To express in words, or in peculiar words; to call; to style. ``These suns -- for so they phrase 'em.''
--Shak.

Phrase

Phrase \Phrase\, v. i.

  1. To use proper or fine phrases. [R.]

  2. (Mus.) To group notes into phrases; as, he phrases well. See Phrase, n., 4.

Related phrases:
Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
phrase

1520s, "manner or style of expression," also "group of words with some unity," from Late Latin phrasis "diction," from Greek phrasis "speech, way of speaking, enunciation, phraseology," from phrazein "to express, tell," from phrazesthai "to consider," from PIE *gwhren- "to think" (see frenetic). The musical sense of "short passage" is from 1789.

phrase

"to put into a phrase," 1560s; see phrase (n.). Related: Phrased; phrasing.

Wiktionary
phrase

n. 1 A short written or spoken expression. 2 (context grammar English) A word or group of words that functions as a single unit in the syntax of a sentence, usually consisting of a head, or central word, and elaborating words. vb. 1 (context intransitive music English) To perform a passage with the correct phrasing. 2 (context transitive music English) To divide into melodic phrases. 3 (context transitive English) To express (an action, thought or idea) by means of words.

Related phrases:
WordNet
phrase

  1. n. an expression forming a grammatical constituent of a sentence but not containing a finite verb

  2. a short musical passage [syn: musical phrase]

  3. an expression whose meanings cannot be inferred from the meanings of the words that make it up [syn: idiom, idiomatic expression, phrasal idiom, set phrase]

phrase

v. put into words or an expression; "He formulated his concerns to the board of trustees" [syn: give voice, formulate, word, articulate]

Related phrases:
Wikipedia
Phrase

In everyday speech, a phrase may be any group of words, often carrying a special idiomatic meaning; in this sense it is roughly synonymous with expression. In linguistic analysis, a phrase is a group of words (or possibly a single word) that functions as a constituent in the syntax of a sentence, a single unit within a grammatical hierarchy. A phrase appears within a clause, but it is possible also for a phrase to be a clause or to contain a clause within it.

Phrase (music)

In music and music theory, phrase and phrasing are concepts and practices related to grouping consecutive melodic notes, both in their composition and performance. A musical work is typically made up of a melody that consists of numerous consecutive phrases. The notation used is similar to a tie and a slur. Even when no phrase markings are included in the notation, experienced instrumentalists and singers will add phrasing to melodic lines.

Phrase (rapper)

Harley Webster (born 1981) – better known as Phrase – is an Australian hip hop MC, originating from Melbourne.

Phrase (disambiguation)

A phrase may be a linguistic expression or a constituent in the grammatical analysis of a sentence.

Phrase may also refer to:

  • Phrase (music)
  • Phrase (fencing)
  • Phrase (rapper)
Related phrases:

Usage examples of "phrase".

The mistress of the house was fond of ready-made phrases, and she adopted this one, about Julien, very pleased at having invited an academician to dine with them.

She had the careful almost accentless voice of the language student, and her phrases seemed to have been adopted whole from the speech of the grownups around her.

Beethoven adagios, of which we find the most beautiful specimens naturally among the orchestral pieces and in the chamber music, where he could depend upon the long phrases and sustained tones of the violins.

The chief secret, however, of the origin of the peculiar phrases under consideration consisted in their striking fitness to the nature and facts of the case, their adaptedness to express these facts in a bold and vivid manner.

Arguments that may now be adduced to prove that the first eight Amendments were concealed within the historic phrasing of the Fourteenth Amendment were not unknown at the time of its adoption.

In a way, the adjective following the noun is treated as an extension of the noun proper, and so the case ending is added at the end of the whole phrase.

If you use an adjective to describe a physical attribute, make sure the phrase is not only accurate and sensory but fresh.

Often, the easiest way to avoid an adjective-based cliche is to free the phrase entirely from its adjective modifier.

There are certain times when an adverb or an adverbial phrase can be used to establish the motivation.

They are like the colossal strides of approaching Fate, and this awfulness is twice raised to a higher power, first by a searching, syncopated phrase in the violins which hovers loweringly over them, and next by a succession of afrighted minor scales ascending crescendo and descending piano, the change in dynamics beginning abruptly as the crest of each terrifying wave is reached.

He searches out pattern in the music of a phrase or the spell of an anagram, in the shapes of time or the weave of the universe.

He thought it might be an anagram, since the phrase makes little sense.

Cushions and bedclothes were scattered everywhere, colourful animatic dolls waddled around, either laughing or repeating their catch phrases.

The story is of course apocryphal, but it was widely told as a joke and thus perhaps is responsible for the popularity of the phrase.

The chanting was picked up by others, and soon most of the people were deeply involved in a mesmerizing sequence that consisted of repetitive phrases sung in a pulsating beat with little change in tone, alternating with arrhythmic drumming that had more tonal variation than the voices.