phrasal

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Repetition has an indelible place in Black expressive culture: in the syncopated rhythms of jazz, the phrasal repetitions of the blues and the guttural moans of soul made meaningful by dint of remarkable vocal performances.

From New York Times • Mar. 4, 2021

The phrasal verb steadily shines as a dismissal, a damnation, and a barked call to attention—an essential caustic shade in the brilliant blue streaks of the dialogue.

From The New Yorker • Aug. 14, 2019

“Look down on” in “He looked down on lexicography as a career” is a phrasal verb.

From Slate • Mar. 14, 2017

If anything, its fractured lines and phrasal salad are a sign that something’s suspiciously wrong and the message should be discarded.

From Scientific American • Jun. 19, 2013

But these patterns alone are by no means sufficient to explain or register all the phrasal movements of English prose—as a single sentence will show.

From The Principles of English Versification by Baum, Paull Franklin