[syn: give voice, formulate, word, phrase, articulate]
2. divide, combine, or mark into phrases;
- Example: "phrase a musical passage"
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
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.
[1913 Webster]
"Convey" the wise it call. "Steal!" foh! a fico for
the phrase. --Shak.
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2. A short, pithy expression; especially, one which is often
employed; a peculiar or idiomatic turn of speech; as, to
err is human.
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3. A mode or form of speech; the manner or style in which any
one expreses himself; diction; expression. "Phrases of the
hearth." --Tennyson.
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Thou speak'st
In better phrase and matter than thou didst. --Shak.
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4. (Mus.) A short clause or portion of a period.
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Note: A composition consists first of sentences, or periods;
these are subdivided into sections, and these into
phrases.
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Phrase book, a book of idiomatic phrases. --J. S. Blackie.
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The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
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.
[1913 Webster]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Phrase \Phrase\, v. i.
1. To use proper or fine phrases. [R.]
[1913 Webster]
2. (Mus.) To group notes into phrases; as, he phrases well.
See Phrase, n., 4.
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WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):
phrase
n 1: an expression consisting of one or more words forming a
grammatical constituent of a sentence
2: a short musical passage [syn: phrase, 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]
4: dance movements that are linked in a single choreographic
sequence
v 1: put into words or an expression; "He formulated his
concerns to the board of trustees" [syn: give voice,
formulate, word, phrase, articulate]
2: divide, combine, or mark into phrases; "phrase a musical
passage"
Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0:
236 Moby Thesaurus words for "phrase":
Parthian shot, adage, address, adjectival phrase, affirmation,
allegation, ana, anacrusis, analects, answer, aphorism, apostrophe,
apothegm, article, articulate, assertion, averment, axiom,
back matter, bass passage, book, bourdon, breathe, bridge, burden,
byword, cadence, catchword, chapter, chestnut, chime,
choice of words, chorus, clause, cliche, coda, collected sayings,
collocation, colloquialism, column, come out with, comment,
commonplace, communicate, composition, conceive, convey, couch,
couch in terms, crack, current saying, declaration, delineate,
deliver, describe, development, dialect, dictate, diction, dictum,
disclose, distich, division, embody in words, emit, enunciate,
epigram, exclamation, exposition, express, expression, fascicle,
figure, fling off, folderol, folio, formularize, formulate,
formulation, frame, front matter, gathering, give, give expression,
give expression to, give out with, give tongue, give utterance,
give voice, give words to, glosseme, gnome, golden saying, grammar,
greeting, harmonic close, icon, idiom, impart, installment,
interjection, interlude, intermezzo, introductory phrase, language,
leitmotiv, let out, lexeme, lexical form, lip, livraison, locution,
manner of speaking, maxim, measure, mention, moral, morpheme, mot,
motif, motive, motto, movement, musical phrase, musical sentence,
note, noun phrase, number, observation, oracle, ornament, out with,
page, paragraph, parlance, part, passage, period, phonate,
phraseology, phrasing, pithy saying, platitude, position,
pour forth, precept, prescript, present, pronounce, pronouncement,
proverb, proverbial saying, proverbs, put, put forth, put in words,
question, raise, reflection, refrain, remark, resolution, response,
rhetoric, rhetorize, ritornello, saw, say, saying, section,
semasiological unit, sememe, sentence, sententious expression,
serial, set forth, set out, sheet, sign, signature, signifiant,
significant, slogan, sloka, sound, speech, stanza, state,
statement, stock saying, strain, style, subject, subjoinder, sutra,
symbol, syntax, tailpiece, talk, teaching, tell, term, text, theme,
thought, throw off, token, tutti, tutti passage, type, usage,
use of words, usus loquendi, utter, utterance, variation,
verb phrase, verbalize, verbiage, verse, vocabulary, vocalize,
voice, volume, way of speaking, whisper, wisdom, wisdom literature,
wise saying, witticism, word, word-group, wordage, wording,
words of wisdom, write