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

punctuate

verb
 
/ˈpʌŋktʃueɪt/
 
/ˈpʌŋktʃueɪt/
Verb Forms
present simple I / you / we / they punctuate
 
/ˈpʌŋktʃueɪt/
 
/ˈpʌŋktʃueɪt/
he / she / it punctuates
 
/ˈpʌŋktʃueɪts/
 
/ˈpʌŋktʃueɪts/
past simple punctuated
 
/ˈpʌŋktʃueɪtɪd/
 
/ˈpʌŋktʃueɪtɪd/
past participle punctuated
 
/ˈpʌŋktʃueɪtɪd/
 
/ˈpʌŋktʃueɪtɪd/
-ing form punctuating
 
/ˈpʌŋktʃueɪtɪŋ/
 
/ˈpʌŋktʃueɪtɪŋ/
jump to other results
  1. [transitive, often passive] punctuate something (with something) to interrupt something fairly often and regularly
    • Her speech was punctuated by bursts of applause.
    • He punctuates his conversation with snatches of song.
  2. [intransitive, transitive] punctuate (something) to divide writing into sentences and phrases by using special marks, for example commas, question marks, etc.Topics Languagec1
  3. Word Originmid 17th cent. (in the sense ‘point out’): from medieval Latin punctuat- ‘brought to a point’, from the verb punctuare, from punctum ‘a point’.
See punctuate in the Oxford Advanced American DictionarySee punctuate in the Oxford Learner's Dictionary of Academic English
previously
adverb
 
 
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