phrase
(Of a person's memory)
[noun]
Synonyms:
- expression, group of words, idiom, remark, saying
[verb]
Synonyms:
- express, put, put into words, say, voice, word

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Related Words: styling, phrasing, idiom, catchword, slogan

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English Thesaurus: phrase, expression, idiom, cliché, saying/proverb, ...

[TahlilGaran] English Synonym Dictionary ▲

I. phrase¹ S3 W3 /freɪz/ noun [countable]
[Date: 1500-1600; Language: Latin; Origin: phrasis, from Greek, from phrazein 'to point out, explain, tell']

1. a group of words that have a particular meaning when used together, or which someone uses on a particular occasion:
Who first used the phrase ‘survival of the fittest’?
Shakespeare’s plays are full of well-known phrases.

2. technical a group of words without a finite verb, especially when they are used to form part of a sentence, such as ‘walking along the road’ and ‘a bar of soap’ ⇒ clause(2), sentence¹(1)

3. a short group of musical notes that is part of a longer piece
⇒ to coin a phrase at coin²(2), ⇒ a turn of phrase at turn²(11), ⇒ turn a phrase at turn¹(20)

[TahlilGaran] Dictionary of Contemporary English ▲

II. phrase² verb [transitive]

1. to express something in a particular way:
Polly tried to think how to phrase the question.
Sorry, I phrased that badly.

2. to perform music in order to produce the full effect of separate musical phrases

[TahlilGaran] Dictionary of Contemporary English ▲

phrase
noun
ADJ. colloquial, idiomatic | key ‘Start slowly’ is the key phrase for the first-time marathon runner.
famous | empty, glib, hackneyed, stock He keeps coming out with the same old stock phrases
memorable, well-turned | musical | adjectival, adverbial, noun, verb
VERB + PHRASE use | coin Who coined the phrase ‘desktop publishing’?
PHRASE + NOUN book
PREP. in a/the~ She was, in her own memorable phrase, ‘a woman without a past’.
PHRASES a choice of phrase Her unfortunate choice of phrase offended most of the audience.
a turn of phrase He is meticulous in his choice of words and turns of phrase.

[TahlilGaran] Collocations Dictionary ▲

phrase
verb
ADV. carefully The statement was very carefully phrased.
differently I should have phrased my question differently.

[TahlilGaran] Collocations Dictionary ▲

phrase

a famous/well-known phrase
We all hear the phrase "greenhouse gasses", but do you know what it really means?
a memorable phrase
Who was it who used that memorable phrase "a monumental error of judgement"?
a colourful phrase (=interesting or rude)
His conversation is full of colourful phrases.
a well-turned phrase (=skilfully invented or chosen)
She creates lifelike characters with a few well-turned phrases.

[TahlilGaran] Collocations Dictionary ▲

phrase a group of words that have a particular meaning when used together, or which someone uses on a particular occasion:
What was the phrase he used to describe her?
I’ve never heard of the phrase before.
The President often used the phrase ‘War on terror’.
expression a fixed phrase which is used in a language and has a particular meaning:
a colloquial expression (=an informal expression used in everyday spoken language)
The old-fashioned expression ‘in the family way’ means pregnant.
a common English expression
I was absolutely knackered, if you’ll pardon the expression (=used when you think someone might be offended by the words you have used).
idiom a group of words that has a special meaning which you cannot guess from the meanings of each separate word:
‘Under the weather’ is an idiom which means ‘ill’.
cliché a phrase that is boring and no longer original because people use it a lot:
The phrase ‘at the end of the day’ has become a real cliché.
There is some truth in the old cliché that time is a great healer.
saying/proverb a well-known phrase that gives advice about life:
Do you know the saying ‘A problem shared is a problem halved’?
There is an old Chinese proverb which states ‘A journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step’.
slogan a short phrase that is easy to remember, especially one that is used in advertising:
advertising slogans
Protesters were shouting anti-government slogans.
motto a phrase that expresses a person’s or organization’s beliefs and aims:
The school motto was ‘Truth and Honour’.

[TahlilGaran] English Thesaurus ▲

word a single group of letters that are used together with a particular meaning:
‘Casa’ is the Italian word for ‘house’.
I looked up the word in a dictionary.
name a word that you use for a particular thing, place, organization etc:
Iberia is the ancient name for the Spanish Peninsula.
What’s the name of that type of dog?
term a word or group of words that is used in a specific subject or area of language:
The medical term for losing your hair is ‘alopecia’.
People use the term ‘carbon footprint’ to talk about man’s polluting effect on the environment.
phrase a group of words that have a particular meaning when used together, or which someone uses on a particular occasion:
We don’t really have a phrase for ‘bon appétit’ in English.
Politicians keep using the phrase ‘family values’.
an Italian phrase book
expression a fixed phrase which is used in a language and has a particular meaning:
He uses a lot of obscure expressions that I don’t really understand.
What does the expression ‘wage slavery’ mean?
buzzword /ˈbʌzwɜːd $ -wɜːrd/ a word or group of words that people in a particular type of work or activity have started using a lot because they think it is important:
E-learning is the buzzword in educational publishing at the moment.
For anthropologists, ethnodiversity has been a buzzword for quite a while.
idiom /ˈɪdiəm/ a group of words that has a special meaning which you cannot guess from the meanings of each separate word:
‘Full of beans’ is an idiom which means feeling lively and energetic.
cliché /ˈkliːʃeɪ $ kliːˈʃeɪ/ a group of words that is used so often that it seems rather boring, annoying, or silly:
It’s a bit of a cliché, but good communication skills are the key to success.
the old movie cliché ‘we can’t go on meeting like this’
slang very informal words used especially by a particular group of people such as young people, criminals, or soldiers:
Grass is slang for marijuana.
prison slang
army slang
jargon words and phrases used in a particular profession or by a particular group of people, which are difficult for other people to understand – often used to show disapproval:
The instructions were full of technical jargon.
complicated legal jargon

[TahlilGaran] English Thesaurus ▲