Word.ws English Dictionary

phases

/ˈfeɪzɪz/

phases is the plural of phase.

phases is the third-person singular simple present indicative of phase.

phases is the plural of phasis.

Meaning of phase

Noun

phase (plural phases)

  1. A distinguishable part of a sequence or cycle occurring over time.
    • It would have been a simple enough move to warn the firm, but Max Carrados's interest lay in the phase of crime rather than in forestalling it, and on that score he had little tangible as yet […]1934, Ernest Bramah, The Bravo of London
  2. That which is exhibited to the eye; the appearance which anything manifests, especially any one among different and varying appearances of the same object.
  3. Any appearance or aspect of an object of mental apprehension or view.
    • The problem has many phases.
  4. A particular appearance or state in a regularly recurring cycle of changes with respect to quantity of illumination or form, or the absence, of a body's illuminated disk. Illustrated in Wikipedia's article Lunar phase.
    • the phases of the moon
  5. Any one point or portion in a recurring series of changes, as in the changes of motion of one of the particles constituting a wave or vibration; one portion of a series of such changes, in distinction from a contrasted portion, as the portion on one side of a position of equilibrium, in contrast with that on the opposite side.
  6. A component in a material system that is distinguished by chemical composition and/or physical state (solid, liquid or gas) and/or crystal structure. It is delineated from an adjoining phase by an abrupt change in one or more of those conditions.

See all 17 meanings of phase

Meaning of phasis

Noun

phasis (plural phases)

  1. (obsolete) A phase (of the moon, a planet etc.).
    • [A]s the same face of the moon always is turned to the earth, the lunar tides must be permanent, and if the solid parts of the moon be spherical, must always cover the phasis next to us.1791, Erasmus Darwin, The Economy of Vegetation, J. Johnson, page 119
  2. (obsolete) Any phase or aspect of something.
    • He o'er the seas shall love or fame pursue, / And other Months, another Phasis view […].1697, Marcus Manilius, translated by Thomas Creech, Astronomica
  3. (archaic) The first appearance of the new moon.

See all 4 meanings of phasis

Phrases with phases

12 more phrasesFewer phrases

Questions about phases

What is phases the plural of?
Phases is the plural of phase.
How do you pronounce phases?
Phases is pronounced /ˈfeɪzɪz/.

Words near phases in the dictionary

  1. phaseplanes
  2. phaser
  3. phasered
  4. phasering
  5. phasers
  6. phases
  7. phases down
  8. phases in
  9. phases of the moon
  10. phases out
  11. phaseshift

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: phases (page history and authors); phase (page history and authors); phasis (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-I learned some phrases-phases.wav.

Cite this entry: “phases.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/phases. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.