phrase

UK/ˈfɹeɪ̯z/

More pronunciations (1)Fewer pronunciations

British/ˈfɹɛjz/

phrase noun: a short written or spoken expression.

Noun

phrase (plural phrases)

A short written or spoken expression.
- I've made progress, but this is still, in Churchill's phrase, just "the end of the beginning."
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
- Meronyms: head, complement, adjunct, supplement, modifier; term, word
A small section of music in a larger piece.
(archaic) A mode or form of speech; diction; expression.
- Thou speak'st / In better phrase and matter than thou didst.c. 1603–1606, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of King Lear”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount...
- […] From out a common vein of memory / Sweet household talk, and phrases of the hearth, […]1847, Alfred Tennyson, “Part II”, in The Princess: A Medley, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC, page 39
Synonyms:

figure of speech, locution
A short individual motion forming part of a choreographed dance.

Verb

phrase (third-person singular simple present phrases, present participle phrasing, simple past and past participle phrased)

(transitive) To express (an action, thought or idea) by means of particular words.
- I wasn't sure how to phrase my condolences without sounding patronising.
- These suns — for so they phrase 'em.1613 (date written), William Shakespeare, [John Fletcher], “The Famous History of the Life of King Henry the Eight”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio)...
(intransitive, transitive) To perform (a passage) with a particular phrasing.
(transitive) To divide into melodic phrases.

phrase meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu

phrase in Hindi

short written or spoken expression: मुहावरा muhāvrā, वाक्यांश vākyāñś, वाक्य vākya, जुमला jumlā, इबारत ibārat

phrase in Tamil

சொற்றொடர், முற்றுறா வாக்கியம், தொடர்மொழி, சொல்

phrase in Marathi

वाक्यांश, वाक्यांश करणे

phrase in Urdu

short written or spoken expression: جُمْلَہ jumla, عِبارَت 'ibārat

More languagesFewer languages

phrase in Bengali: বাক্য bakko, ফ্রেজ phrej
phrase in Telugu: పదబంధం, పదబంధాన్ని, పదబంధము
phrase in Malayalam: പദസമുച്ചയം, ശൈലി, വാക്യം, വാക്യാംശം
phrase in Kannada: ಪದಕಂತೆ, ನುಡಿಗಟ್ಟು, ಪದಗುಚ್ಛ, ಸೂಕ್ತಿ
phrase in Punjabi: ਵਾਕਾਂਸ਼, ਵਾਕੰਸ਼, ਵਾਕਾਂਸ਼ ਕਰਨ ਲਈ
phrase in Gujarati: શબ્દસમૂહ, વાક્યાંશ
phrase in Odia: ବାକ୍ଯ଼ାଂଶ
phrase in Nepali: वाक्यांश
phrase in Pashto: عبارت 'ebārat
phrase in Tagalog: parirala
phrase in Arabic: جُمْلَة jumla, تَعْبِير taʕbīr, عِبَارَة ʕibāra
phrase in Malay: ungkapan, frasa
phrase in Indonesian: ungkapan, frasa
phrase in Thai: วลี wá-lii, ประโยค bprà-yòok
phrase in Vietnamese: cụm từ, câu
phrase in Myanmar: နိဒ္ဒေသ niddesa.

Examples of phrase in a sentence

Congratulations on managing to use the phrase “preponderant criterion” in a chart (“On your marks”, November 9th).2013 November 30, Paul Davis, “Letters: Say it as simply as possible”, in The Economist, volume 409, number 8864:
When it is not accompanied by anything else, we have a one-word phrase.2024, Geoffrey K. Pullum, The Truth About English Grammar, Polity Press, →ISBN, page 12:
She devoured with more avidity than she had her food those pretentiously phrased chronicles of the snobocracy—[…]—distilling therefrom an acid envy that robbed her napoleon of all its flavor.1914 November, Louis Joseph Vance, “An Outsider […]”, in Munsey’s Magazine, volume LIII, number II, New York, N.Y.: The Frank A[ndrew]...

All 40 example sentences with phrase

Synonyms of phrase

Forms of phrase

Noun
plural	phrases
Verb
third-person singular present	phrases
present participle	phrasing
past participle	phrased
past	phrased

Past tense of phrase: phrased

Plural of phrase: phrases

Origin of phrase

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

Words formed from phrase

Phrases with phrase

4 more phrasesFewer phrases

Words that rhyme with phrase

48 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about phrase

What does phrase mean?: Phrase means a short written or spoken expression.
What is phrase in Hindi?: Phrase in Hindi is मुहावरा (muhāvrā), वाक्यांश (vākyāñś), वाक्य (vākya). See Phrase meaning in Hindi.
How do you use phrase in a sentence?: Congratulations on managing to use the phrase “preponderant criterion” in a chart (“On your marks”, November 9th).
What part of speech is phrase?: Phrase can be a noun or a verb.
How do you pronounce phrase?: Phrase is pronounced /ˈfɹeɪ̯z/ (UK).
What is the plural of phrase?: The plural of phrase is phrases.

Words near phrase in the dictionary

Adapted from Wiktionary: phrase (page history and authors); phrase (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); phrase (Marathi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); phrase (Telugu, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); phrase (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors); phrase (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors); phrase (Punjabi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); phrase (Gujarati, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); phrase (Odia, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); phrase (Nepali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). 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.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-phrase.ogg.

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