utterance
part of speech
noun (an utterance, utterances); verb utter (utter, utters, uttered, uttering)
meaning for a pupil
1) (formal) An utterance is something that someone says: a word, a phrase or a sentence spoken aloud. tree →
2) (formal) Utterance is the act of saying something aloud: give utterance to your feelings. tree →
sense in the lessons
A formal word in language study (linguistics) and exams: each thing a person says in a conversation is an utterance. In stories, a character's last utterance or a strange utterance. Plain words: words, what someone said.
examples
- The baby's first utterance was «Mama». tree →
- Every utterance in the play was written down. tree →
- Linguists record people's utterances to study language. tree →
- His only utterance was a quiet «thank you». tree →
- She gave utterance to her anger. tree →
- Each line in the conversation is one utterance. tree →
- The Savannah negro here gave utterance to a loud, contemptuous laugh, and began to fumble somewhat ostentatiously with a big brass watch-chain. tree →
note
Formal; in speech say «what she said». Use «an utterance» (vowel sound). From the verb «utter» (to say). The adjective «utter» means complete (utter nonsense) — a different word.
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «utterance» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.