inˌverted ˈcomma BrE AmE noun [countable usually plural] British English
1 . one of a pair of marks (‘ ... ’) that are put at the beginning and end of a written word, sentence etc to show that someone said it or wrote it, or when writing the title of a book, song etc SYN quotation mark ⇨ ↑ punctuation mark
2 . in inverted commas spoken used to show that a word you are using to describe something is only what it is usually called, and not what you think it really is:
Her friends, in inverted commas, all disappeared when she was in trouble.