verb

noun 2 Did you know? Example Sentences

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verb 1 of 2 noun
ˈvərb

: a word that characteristically is the grammatical center of a predicate and

expresses an act, occurrence, or mode of being, that in various languages is
inflected for agreement with the subject, for tense, for voice, for mood, or for
aspect, and that typically has rather full descriptive meaning and characterizing
quality but is sometimes nearly devoid of these especially when used as an
auxiliary or linking verb

verbless ˈvərb-ləs adjective

verb 2 of 2 verb
verbed; verbing
transitive verb
:
 : to use (a word and especially a noun) as a verb : to make (a word) into a verb
A television announcer in Vero Beach, Fla., spoke of a promise "to upkeep the
beach," thus verbing a word that had been in use as an honest noun since 1884.
James Kilpatrick
But it is by no means unusual for a noun to be verbed.
Theodore M. Bernstein

Did you know?

What is a verb?

Verbs are words that show an action (sing), occurrence (develop), or state of
being (exist). Almost every sentence requires a verb. The basic form of a verb is
known as its infinitive. The forms call, love, break, and go are all infinitives.

Almost all verbs have two other important forms called participles. Participles
are forms that are used to create several verb tenses (forms that are used to
show when an action happened); they can also be used as adjectives. The
:
 present participle always ends in -ing: calling, loving, breaking, going. (There is
also a kind of noun, called a gerund, that is identical in form to the present
participle form of a verb.) The past participle usually ends in -ed, but many past
participles have irregular endings: called, loved, broken, gone.

The verb's past tense usually has the same -ed form as the past participle. For
many verbs, however, the past tense is irregular. An irregular past tense is not
always identical to an irregular past participle: called, loved, broke, went.

The two main kinds of verbs, transitive verbs and intransitive verbs, are
discussed at the entries for transitive and intransitive.

Examples of verb in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun
Imagine, for starters, showing a group of non-English speakers the present and
past forms of verbs like boil (boil/boiled) and chew (chew/chewed).
Sheon Han, WIRED, 4 Mar. 2024

The groups could be things like horror movie franchises, a type of verb or
rappers.
Kris Holt, Forbes, 1 Mar. 2024

See all Example Sentences for verb

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate
current usage of the word 'verb.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent
:
 those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Noun
Middle English verbe, borrowed from Anglo-French, borrowed from Latin
verbum "word, verb" — more at WORD entry 1

First Known Use

Noun
14th century, in the meaning defined above

Verb
1928, in the meaning defined above
:
 Time Traveler

The first known use of verb was in the 14th century

See more words from the same century

Phrases Containing verb

modal verb modal auxiliary verb

pro-verb verb sap

linking verb helping verb

action verb phrasal verb

auxiliary verb
:
 Articles Related to verb

Words Added to the Scrabble Dictionary

What is a Verb?

8 Grammar Terms You Used to Know, But...

:
 Video

When Body Parts Are Also Verbs

Head, shoulders, metaphors, and toes

Dictionary Entries Near verb

veratrylidene
verb
verbal

See More Nearby Entries

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 Cite this Entry

Style MLA

“Verb.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.me

rriam-webster.com/dictionary/verb. Accessed 2 Apr. 2024.
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Kids Definition

verb
:
 verb noun
ˈvərb

: a word that is usually the grammatical center of a predicate and expresses an

act, occurrence, or state of being and that in various languages is inflected (as for
agreement with the subject or for tense)

More from Merriam-Webster on verb

Nglish: Translation of verb for Spanish Speakers

Britannica English: Translation of verb for Arabic Speakers
Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about verb

Last Updated: 11 Mar 2024 - Updated example sentences

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