COMMENTARY


Meaning of COMMENTARY in English

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.

• • •

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.

Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English.      Longman - Словарь современного английского языка.