Paragraph Definition & Meaning

American

British

Cultural

Other Word Forms

Etymology

Examples

Related Words

Synonyms paragraph American [par-uh-graf, -grahf] / ˈpær əˌgræf, -ˌgrɑf /

noun

1. a distinct portion of written or printed matter dealing with a particular idea, usually beginning with an indentation on a new line.

2. a paragraph mark.

3. a note, item, or brief article, as in a newspaper.

verb (used with object)

1. to divide into paragraphs.

2. to write or publish paragraphs about, as in a newspaper.

3. to express in a paragraph.

paragraph British / ˈpærəˌɡrɑːf, -ˌɡræf, ˌpærəˈɡræfɪk /

noun

1. (in a piece of writing) one of a series of subsections each usually devoted to one idea and each usually marked by the beginning of a new line, indentation, increased interlinear space, etc

2. printing the character ¶, used as a reference mark or to indicate the beginning of a new paragraph

3. a short article in a newspaper

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

verb

1. to form into paragraphs

2. to express or report in a paragraph

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012 paragraph Cultural

1. A basic unit of prose. It is usually composed of several sentences that together develop one central idea. The main sentence in a paragraph is called the topic sentence.

Other Word Forms

• paragraphic adjective
• paragraphically adverb
• paragraphism noun
• paragraphistical adjective
• subparagraph noun
• unparagraphed adjective
• well-paragraphed adjective

Etymology

Origin of paragraph

1515–25; earlier paragraphe < Greek paragraphḗ marked passage; para- 1, graph

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.

They are the queen and king of carefully calibrated consistency, and one wishes that from time to time Mr. Serrano would follow their lead and lose some of the repetition and one-word paragraphs.

From The Wall Street Journal

Within a single paragraph, we are told that time “was flying by,” that someone “stopped in his tracks” while others “hurried breathlessly.”

From The Wall Street Journal

Including reading past the ticker symbols to the risk paragraphs.

From MarketWatch

This is largely due to the contents of two short paragraphs.

From BBC

Previously, the company would ask AI to write one paragraph in a particular section.

From The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• clause
• portion
• quotation
• reading
• section
• sentence
• text
• transition
• verse

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.