phrasing

• IPA^(key): /ˈfɹeɪzɪŋ/
• Rhymes: -eɪzɪŋ

phrasing

1. present participle and gerund of phrase

phrasing (plural phrasings)

1. The way a statement is put together, particularly in matters of style and word choice.

   Synonyms: wording; see also Thesaurus:wording

   • 1870, Mark Twain, chapter 46, in Life on the Mississippi‎, archived from the original on 11 August 2014:

     But for the Sir Walter disease, the character of the Southerner -- or Southron, according to Sir Walter's starchier way of phrasing it -- would be wholly modern, in place of modern and medieval mixed, and the South would be fully a generation further advanced than it is.

2. (music) The way the musical phrases are put together in a composition or in its interpretation, with changes in tempo, volume, or emphasizing one or more instruments over others.
   • 1977 August 13, Jim Marko, “Swados' Rare and Moving Nightclub Cantata”, in Gay Community News, volume 5, number 6, page 11:

     I found myself truly moved by a stage event for the first time in years. I found myself humming tunes that one might not rightfully call tunes. Days later, I still remember these musical phrasings in little swatches of sound.

• cross-phrasing

• harpings, sharping