(~s, phrasing, ~d)
Frequency: The word is one of the 3000 most common words in English.
1.
A ~ is a short group of words that people often use as a way of saying something. The meaning of a ~ is often not obvious from the meaning of the individual words in it.
He used a ~ I hate: ‘You have to be cruel to be kind.’
N-COUNT
2.
A ~ is a small group of words which forms a unit, either on its own or within a sentence.
It is impossible to hypnotise someone simply by saying a particular word or ~.
N-COUNT
3.
If you ~ something in a particular way, you express it in words in that way.
I would have ~d it quite differently...
They ~d it as a question.
VERB: V n adv, V n as n
4.
If someone has a particular turn of ~, they have a particular way of expressing themselves in words.
...Schwarzkopf’s distinctive turn of ~.
to coin a ~: see coin
PHRASE: N inflects