| Library / English Dictionary |
PUNCTUATION
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
I. (noun)
Sense 1
Meaning:
The use of certain marks to clarify meaning of written material by grouping words grammatically into sentences and clauses and phrases
Classified under:
Nouns denoting acts or actions
Hypernyms ("punctuation" is a kind of...):
grouping (the activity of putting things together in groups)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "punctuation"):
hyphenation (connecting syllables and words by hyphens)
Holonyms ("punctuation" is a member of...):
orthography; writing system (a method of representing the sounds of a language by written or printed symbols)
Derivation:
punctuate (insert punctuation marks into)
Sense 2
Meaning:
The marks used to clarify meaning by indicating separation of words into sentences and clauses and phrases
Synonyms:
punctuation; punctuation mark
Classified under:
Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents
Hypernyms ("punctuation" is a kind of...):
mark (a written or printed symbol (as for punctuation))
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "punctuation"):
swung dash (a punctuation mark used in text to indicate the omission of a word)
diagonal; separatrix; slash; solidus; stroke; virgule (a punctuation mark (/) used to separate related items of information)
semicolon (a punctuation mark (';') used to connect independent clauses; indicates a closer relation than does a period)
inverted comma; quotation mark; quote (a punctuation mark used to attribute the enclosed text to someone else)
interrogation point; question mark (a punctuation mark (?) placed at the end of a sentence to indicate a question)
full point; full stop; period; point; stop (a punctuation mark (.) placed at the end of a declarative sentence to indicate a full stop or after abbreviations)
parenthesis (either of two punctuation marks (or) used to enclose textual material)
dash; hyphen (a punctuation mark (-) used between parts of a compound word or between the syllables of a word when the word is divided at the end of a line of text)
exclamation mark; exclamation point (a punctuation mark (!) used after an exclamation)
comma (a punctuation mark (,) used to indicate the separation of elements within the grammatical structure of a sentence)
colon (a punctuation mark (:) used after a word introducing a series or an example or an explanation (or after the salutation of a business letter))
angle bracket; bracket (either of two punctuation marks ('<' or '>') used in computer programming and sometimes used to enclose textual material)
bracket; square bracket (either of two punctuation marks ([ or ]) used to enclose textual material)
brace (either of two punctuation marks ({ or }) used to enclose textual material)
apostrophe (the mark (') used to indicate the omission of one or more letters from a printed word)
ampersand (a punctuation mark (&) used to represent conjunction (and))
Holonyms ("punctuation" is a part of...):
orthography; writing system (a method of representing the sounds of a language by written or printed symbols)
Derivation:
punctuate (insert punctuation marks into)
Sense 3
Meaning:
Something that makes repeated and regular interruptions or divisions
Classified under:
Hypernyms ("punctuation" is a kind of...):
break; interruption (some abrupt occurrence that interrupts an ongoing activity)
