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phrase.

A short written or spoken expression.

6 characters1 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

noun/ˈfɹeɪ̯z/General-American, Received-Pronunciation[ˈfɹʷeɪ̯z]General-American, Received-Pronunciation/ˈfɹɛjz/British, Southern, Standard[ˈfɹʷɛjz]British, Southern, Standard
  1. A short written or spoken expression.

    I've made progress, but this is still, in Churchill's phrase, just "the end of the beginning."
  2. 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.

  3. A small section of music in a larger piece.

  4. A mode or form of speech; diction; expression.

    archaic
  5. A short individual motion forming part of a choreographed dance.

Where this word comes from

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

verb/ˈfɹeɪ̯z/General-American, Received-Pronunciation[ˈfɹʷeɪ̯z]General-American, Received-Pronunciation/ˈfɹɛjz/British, Southern, Standard[ˈfɹʷɛjz]British, Southern, Standard
  1. To express (an action, thought or idea) by means of particular words.

    transitive
    I wasn't sure how to phrase my condolences without sounding patronising.
  2. To perform (a passage) with a particular phrasing.

    intransitive · transitive
  3. To divide into melodic phrases.

    transitive
Where this word comes from

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

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.