com ‧ men ‧ ta ‧ ry AC /ˈkɒmənt ə ri $ ˈkɑːmənteri/ BrE AmE noun ( plural commentaries ) [uncountable and countable]
[ Word Family: noun : ↑ comment , ↑ commentary ; verb : ↑ comment ]
1 . a spoken description of an event, given while the event is happening, especially on the television or radio:
Commentary is by Tom Ferris.
commentary on
We’ll be bringing you full commentary on the game between Notts and Brescia.
running commentary (=a continuous description of something)
2 . something such as a book or an article that explains or discusses a book, poem, idea etc:
political commentary
3 . be a sad/tragic/devastating etc commentary on something to be a sign of how bad a particular situation is:
The incident was a sad commentary on British football.
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COLLOCATIONS
■ ADJECTIVES/NOUN + commentary
▪ a radio/television commentary
The royal wedding will be accompanied by a live television commentary.
▪ a running commentary (=continuous commentary while an event is happening)
The coach driver gave us a running commentary on where we were going.
▪ a live commentary (=given at the time the event is happening)
He got into trouble for a remark he made during a live commentary of a football match.
▪ an audio commentary (=a recorded commentary that you listen to)
The DVD extras include an audio commentary by the film director.
■ verbs
▪ give a commentary
His job is to give a non-stop commentary on each moment in the game.
▪ provide a commentary
The helicopter was providing a running commentary to the police control room.
▪ keep up a commentary (=give one continuously)
Attenborough kept up a running commentary on the animals' movements.
▪ listen to a commentary
I was listening to the football commentary on the radio.
■ nouns
▪ a commentary box (=a small room where the commentators on a sports game sit)
He was in the commentary box, microphone in hand.