phrase

Reading level: hard

Estimated CEFR level: B1 — Intermediate

Estimated from word frequency; not an official CEFR classification.

Definition

noun an expression consisting of one or more words forming a grammatical constituent of a sentence
noun a short musical passage
noun an expression whose meanings cannot be inferred from the meanings of the words that make it up

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

But they show neatness of thought and phrase. — William Pitt and national revival, J. Holland (John Holland) Rose
While they were chanting the Norman phrase “Allez, marchez! — The Reign of Greed, José Rizal
The quaintness of his phrase appears at every turn. — From Chaucer to Tennyson: With Twenty-Nine Portraits and Selections from Thirty Authors, Henry A. (Henry Augustin) Beers

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