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Definition of phrase verb from the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary

phrase

verb
 
/freɪz/
 
/freɪz/
Verb Forms
present simple I / you / we / they phrase
 
/freɪz/
 
/freɪz/
he / she / it phrases
 
/ˈfreɪzɪz/
 
/ˈfreɪzɪz/
past simple phrased
 
/freɪzd/
 
/freɪzd/
past participle phrased
 
/freɪzd/
 
/freɪzd/
-ing form phrasing
 
/ˈfreɪzɪŋ/
 
/ˈfreɪzɪŋ/
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  1. [transitive] to say or write something in a particular way
    • phrase something (+ adv./prep.) a carefully phrased remark
    • I agree with what he says, but I'd have phrased it differently.
    • She phrased the explanation in very simple terms.
    • phrase something as something Her order was phrased as a suggestion.
    Extra Examples
    • I should have phrased my question differently.
    • The statement was very carefully phrased.
    Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadverb
    • carefully
    • differently
    • beautifully
    See full entry
  2. [intransitive, transitive] phrase (something) to divide a piece of music into small groups of notes; to play or sing these in a particular way, especially in an effective way
    • The concerto's slow movement was beautifully phrased.
  3. Word Originmid 16th cent. (in the sense ‘style or manner of expression’): via late Latin from Greek phrasis, from phrazein ‘declare, tell’.
See phrase in the Oxford Advanced American DictionarySee phrase in the Oxford Learner's Dictionary of Academic English
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