text
noun
\ ˈtekst
\
\
Definition of text
(Entry 1 of 2)
1a(1)
: the original words and form of a written or printed work
(2)
: an edited or emended copy of an original work
b
: a work containing such text
2a
: the main body of printed or written matter on a page
b
: the principal part of a book exclusive of front and back matter
c
: the printed score of a musical composition
3a(1)
: a verse or passage of Scripture chosen especially for the subject of a sermon or for authoritative support (as for a doctrine)
(2)
: a passage from an authoritative source providing an introduction or basis (as for a speech)
b
: a source of information or authority
5a
: the words of something (such as a poem) set to music
b
: matter chiefly in the form of words or symbols that is treated as data for processing by computerized equipment
text-editing software
6
: a type suitable for printing running text
7
: textbook
8a
: something (such as a story or movie) considered as an object to be examined, explicated, or deconstructed
b
: something likened to a text
the surfaces of daily life are texts to be explicated— Michiko Kakutani
9
: frame of reference sense 2
updated to fit the women's lib text for consciousness raising— Judith Crist
10
: text message
sent a text with the details
text
verb
texted\ ˈtek-stəd
, nonstandard ˈtekst \;
texting
, nonstandard ˈtekst \;
texting
Definition of text (Entry 2 of 2)
: to send a text message from one cell phone to another
: to communicate by text messaging
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Examples of text in a Sentence
Noun
A good critic will refer back to the text often. You can find the full text of his speech on his Web site. the text of the Constitution The book is mostly photographs—it has very little text. At this point the Web site is only text. Graphics will be added later. Students will read and discuss various literary texts.Verb
I texted her a little while ago. I texted a message to her. She just texted me back.
Recent Examples on the Web: Noun
Copy and forward the original text to 7726 (SPAM), free of charge. — Kim Komando, USA TODAY, "6 clever ways to quash robotext spam messages before it’s too late," 29 Aug. 2019 The distance between the text and the character is so minimal. — Ryan Chapman, Longreads, "‘Nobody in This Book Is Going to Catch a Break’: Téa Obreht on “Inland”," 28 Aug. 2019 The text Gokaslan and Cohen’s software generates can be impressively fluid. — Tom Simonite, WIRED, "OpenAI Said Its Code Was Risky. Two Grads Recreated It Anyway," 26 Aug. 2019 And that’s when the group texts begin in earnest, and your financial debt is paid back in the form of psychic restoration. — Wired, "The Beautiful Potential of Never-Ending Bachelor Parties," 22 Aug. 2019 Wix sent the texts to his ex-girlfriend, who alerted law enforcement. — Harmeet Kaur And Shawn Nottingham, CNN, "A man was arrested in Florida for threatening to open fire on a large crowd of people," 18 Aug. 2019 The text is lyrical and the lively illustrations help tell the story, especially Shipman’s depiction of animals. — Mary Ann Grossmann, Twin Cities, "New children’s books cover a lot of territory: first steps, sci-fi and math, and Little Free Libraries," 11 Aug. 2019 The nature of the relationship between translator and writer depends on the text. — Constance Grady, Vox, "Jane Austen was shockingly underpaid compared to other authors of her era," 10 Aug. 2019 Many have noted that Yang has channeled his unconventional sprit into Ne Zha, which is an innovative take on a well known work of classical Chinese mythology, the Ming Dynasty-era text Fengshen Yanyi (also known as The Investiture of the Gods). — Patrick Brzeski, The Hollywood Reporter, "How Chinese Animation Film 'Ne Zha' Became a Surprise $400M-Plus Hit," 8 Aug. 2019Recent Examples on the Web: Verb
In other words, cheating is nothing new, and students have been taking notes on their devices, getting notifications during tests, texting their friends for answers and sending photos of exams to their classmates for years. — Dalvin Brown, USA TODAY, "Students are still using tech to cheat on exams, but things are getting more advanced," 16 Aug. 2019 In his unit upstairs, Horace settled in and then texted Wendy, who had taken a bus to her work, with a video of the apartment. — Los Angeles Times, "Broadway Place’s homeless residents were promised homes. Had the city forgotten them?," 15 Aug. 2019 Maddie McGarvey for The New York Times The gunman in last week’s massacre in Dayton, Ohio, texted his sister and another victim minutes before the shooting, the Dayton Police Department said in a news conference on Tuesday. — Adeel Hassan, New York Times, "Dayton Gunman Shot 26 People in 32 Seconds, Police Timeline Reveals," 13 Aug. 2019 Even minor characters—like the dead-eyed, constantly texting office manager, Stacy, played with droll lassitude by Salahuddin’s sister Zuri—have their own story arcs and funny quirks. — Emily Nussbaum, The New Yorker, "“Sherman’s Showcase” Celebrates a Lost TV Genre," 12 Aug. 2019 Court records show that Bowen texted Swartz in 2017 following a rock-throwing incident. — Rafael Carranza, azcentral, "Arizona border agent pleads guilty to intentionally running over migrant near Nogales," 12 Aug. 2019 The driver was also texting up until the teen exited the bus, the paper reported. — Fox News, "North Carolina police investigating whether school bus driver helped coordinate shooting at teen," 31 July 2019 Meanwhile, Republicans prepared questions about Peter Strzok, the former FBI employee who texted anti-Trump text messages, and Christopher Steele, the former British intelligence officer whose opposition research dossier was a mixed bag. — Madeleine Joung, Time, "Robert Mueller Is Testifying Before the House. Here's Everything to Know," 24 July 2019 Also in ’16, his first year as foreign minister, Johnson was ridiculed for texting on his cellphone throughout Prime Minister Theresa May’s speech at the U.N. General Assembly in New York. — Cnaan Liphshiz, sun-sentinel.com, "Five Jewish things to know about Boris Johnson," 24 July 2019These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'text.' 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 text