punctuation
noun
punc·tu·a·tion
| \ ˌpəŋk-chə-ˈwā-shən
\
\
Definition of punctuation
1
: the act of punctuating : the state of being punctuated
2
: the act or practice of inserting standardized marks or signs in written matter to clarify the meaning and separate structural units
also
: a system of punctuation
3
: something that contrasts or accentuates
Examples of punctuation in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
That means capitalizing letters and using proper punctuation. — Edward C. Baig, USA TODAY, "Looking for work? Your next job interview might just come by text message," 31 July 2019 The Romans, like the Greeks, hadn’t used punctuation, and Cicero himself had expected readers to navigate his clauses by means of rhythm. — Christopher Tayler, Harper's magazine, "New Books," 24 June 2019 The writer carefully not using this punctuation doesn't bother to convey what’s exciting to the reader. — Vogue, "Portrait of a Reporter as a Young Man: Tom Wolfe in Vogue, April 1966," 15 May 2018 Same words, same lack of punctuation, but this time Morrison destroys the spaces between words, collapsing them together: . . — The New Yorker, "Toni Morrison, Remembered By Writers," 10 Aug. 2019 Those fluent in internet-speak can also play with punctuation, capitalization, even spacing to convey emotional nuance and tone of voice. — Megan Mcdonough, Vox, "Is the internet killing language? LOL, no.," 29 July 2019 As the book notes, the quest to make writing more emotionally precise, more speech-like, is not Internet-specific; during the modernist movement, writers often broke rules of grammar and punctuation. — Katy Waldman, The New Yorker, "Is the Internet Making Writing Better?," 26 July 2019 In a dramatic punctuation to her unusual week, in the fifth minute of the game, Rapinoe took a free kick after Alex Morgan was fouled. — Ann Killion, SFChronicle.com, "World Cup statement by Rapinoe and US women heard loud and clear," 28 June 2019 Tragedy comes as strange punctuation; a life is here, then gone, a dream for a nation denied. — Los Angeles Times, "Review: ‘For Sama’ tells of a mother’s searing choice for a daughter born into war," 24 July 2019These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'punctuation.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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More Definitions for punctuation
punctuation
noun
English Language Learners Definition of punctuation
: the marks (such as periods and commas) in a piece of writing that make its meaning clear and that separate it into sentences, clauses, etc.
See the full definition for punctuation in the English Language Learners Dictionary
punctuation
noun
punc·tu·a·tion
| \ ˌpəŋk-chə-ˈwā-shən
\
\
Kids Definition of punctuation
1
: the act of adding punctuation marks to writing
2
: a system of using punctuation marks
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