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word definition

word (wʉrd)

noun

    1. a speech sound, or series of them, serving to communicate meaning and consisting of at least one base morpheme with or without prefixes or suffixes; unit of language between the morpheme and the sentence
    2. a letter or group of letters representing such a unit of language, written or printed usually in solid or hyphenated form
  2. a brief expression, statement, remark, etc. a word of advice
  3. a promise, affirmation, or assurance to give a person one's word
  4. news; information; tidings no word from home; what's the good word?
    1. a password or signal
    2. a command, order, or authorization waiting for the word to go ahead
    1. talk; speech
    2. the lyrics, text, libretto, etc. of a musical composition that is sung
  7. a quarrel; dispute; argument
  8. Archaic a saying; proverb
  9. Comput. a basic unit of storage in a memory, consisting of a certain number of bits

Etymology: ME < OE, akin to Ger wort < IE *werdh- (extension of base *wer-, to speak, say) > Gr eirein, to speak, L verbum, word

transitive verb

to express in words; phrase
word Idioms

a good word

a favorable comment, or commendation

at a word

in quick response to a request or command; immediately

be as good as one's word

to live up to one's promises

break one's word

to fail to keep one's promise

hang on someone's words

to listen to someone eagerly

have a word with

to have a brief conversation with

have no words for

to be incapable of describing

have words with

to argue angrily with

in a word

in short; briefly

in so many words

exactly and plainly

man (or woman) of his (or her) word

a person who keeps his (or her) promises

of many (or few) words

talkative (or not talkative)

take someone at his word

or take someone at her word
to take someone's words literally or seriously and, often, act accordingly

take the words (right) out of someone's mouth

to say just what someone (else) was about to say

the Word

  1. Logos
  2. gospel (sense )

(upon) my word!

indeed!really!: an exclamation of surprise, irritation, etc.

word for word

in precisely the same words; exactly; verbatim

Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2005 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Alternate definitions:

idioms word idiom

word Synonyms

word

n.

  1. A unit of expression

    term, name, expression, designation, concept, vocable, utterance, sound, a voicing, form of speech, speech, locution, free morpheme, morpheme word, lexeme.

    Classes of words include: common noun, proper noun, personal pronoun, possessive pronoun, demonstrative pronoun, relative pronoun, interrogative pronoun, indefinite pronoun, definite article, indefinite article, transitive verb, intransitive verb, phrasal verb, descriptive adjective, quantitative adjective, participial adjective, adverb, coordinating conjunction, subordinate conjunction, relative conjunction, interjection, gerund, preposition, modifier, subject, predicate, loan word, root, primitive word, parent word, source word, etymon, synonym, antonym, cognative word, analogous word, derivative, slang, colloquialism, jargon, slang word, vulgarism, four-letter word*, dialect word, provincialism, translation, native word, foreign word, idiom, connotative word, denotative word, acronym, eponym.

  2. Promise

    pledge, commitment, oath, word of honor; see declaration 2, promise.

  3. Tidings

    report, news, information, advice, message, intelligence, announcement, account.

  4. A brief discourse

    talk, introduction, statement; see speech 3.

a good word

favorable comment, recommendation, support; see praise 2.

be as good as one's word

keep faith, be faithful, fulfill one's promise, live up to a promise; see achieve 1, complete 1.

by word of mouth

orally, verbally, through the grapevine, spoken; see oral.

hang on someone's words

listen to, adore, look up to; see admire 1, listen 1, 2.

have words with

argue with, differ with, differ from, bicker; see argue 1, fight 1, 2.

in so many words

succinctly, cursorily, economically; see briefly 1.

man<strong> or </strong>woman of his<strong> or </strong>her word

honorable man, honorable woman, trustworthy person, good risk; see gentleman 1, lady 2.

take at one's word

trust in, have faith in, have confidence in, put one's trust in; see believe 1.

the word*

information, the facts, the lowdown*; see knowledge 1, truth 1.


Word

n.

the Bible, God's Word, Scripture, Holy Scripture, Logos, dogma, holy writings, Divine Wisdom.


Webster's New World Roget's A-Z Thesaurus Copyright © 1999 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

word Usage Examples

Converse of object

  • speak: Where possible speak the words out loud with the feeling of love.

Adjective modifier

  • other: In other words, just under half of the original sample were retained in the school system to the age of fourteen.

Modifies a noun

  • processor: Please DO NOT use the footnote facility on your word processor!

Noun used with modifier

  • four-letter: There is a four-letter word for Perham and it is not one to be used lightly, and it is not lady.

Preposition: in

  • dictionary: It is not a word in any dictionary of the English language.

Preposition: of

  • mouth: Exchanges are also often found by word of mouth or from notices in shop windows.
word usage examples (more)

The word usage examples above have been gathered from various sources to reflect current and historical usage. They do not represent the opinions of YourDictionary.com.

word quotes

The Greeks Had a Word for It. Albee

-Akins, Zoe«

Polyester†the most valuable word to come out of the 70s, the one that defines tacky for all time.

-Anonymous

Philistinism!öWe have not the expression in English. Perhapswehavenottheword because wehavesomuch of the thing.

-Arnold, Matthew

word quotes (more)

Webster's New World Dictionary of Quotations Copyright © 2005 by Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved. Published by Wiley, Hoboken, NJ. Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

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"word." Webster's New World College Dictionary. 2009

  • Your Dictionary. 4 July 2009
  • <www.yourdictionary.com/word>

APA Style

word. (2009). In Webster's New World College Dictionary

  • Retrieved July 4th, 2009, from www.yourdictionary.com/word

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