Definition of EXCERPT

Examples of excerpt in a Sentence

Noun

Among the excerpts and Twitter feeds and author interviews … there was the actor Will Smith praising The Alchemist as one of his favorite books. — Gregory Cowles, New York Times Book Review, 18 Oct. 2009 When his [Thomas Jefferson's] wife Martha died in 1782, he wrapped a lock of her hair with a scrap of paper containing an excerpt from the couple's favorite novel, Laurence Sterne's comic masterpiece, Tristram Shandy, and stashed the token in his desk. — Walter Kim, Time, 5 July 2004 The exemplary figure here is Norman Mailer, whose 1959 Advertisements for Myself is the height of writerly chutzpah. The book, comprising excerpts from his journalism and fiction, descriptions of the agonies he went through to produce them and obsessive reviews of his reviewers, is so shameless it's admirable. — Judith Shulevitz, New York Times Book Review, 17 June 2001 … I also keep a pad by the side of my bed for writing down great thoughts at night without having to turn on the light. In the morning, these great thoughts sound like excerpts from the Dead Sea Scrolls. — Bill Cosby, Time Flies, (1987) 1988 She read an excerpt from the play. I've read only excerpts of Moby-Dick, never the whole book.

Verb

The fiction that the magazine does publish is too often excerpted from novels or imminently forthcoming collections, making the magazine seem more a flack for publishers than a site of editorial strength and vision. — Vince Passaro, Harper's, August 1999 How quickly does the Net move? Last Friday journalist Michael Colton posted an elaborate Web parody of the forthcoming magazine Talk, which is owned by Miramax and helmed by former New Yorker editor Tina Brown. Within hours, the site's URL had ricocheted about in countless e-mails, and the Drudge Report had excerpted the text. — Newsweek, 26 July 1999

Recent Examples on the Web: Noun

By all means, decide for yourself: Johanna Fateman and Amy Scholder have edited an excellent new collection, which includes excerpts of Dworkin’s fiction and nonfiction books, speeches, essays, and unpublished autobiographical writing. — Elaine Blair, The New York Review of Books, "Fighting for Her Life," 17 June 2019 The men exchanged 17 text messages on Jan. 17 this year, when In Touch magazine published excerpts from a 2011 interview in which Ms. Clifford detailed her alleged encounters with Mr. Trump. — New York Times, "Stormy Daniels Sues, Saying Michael Cohen Colluded With Her Former Lawyer," 6 June 2018 The singer showed excerpts of the documentary in 2015 at a red-carpet screening at Detroit's Fox Theatre. — Julie Hinds, Detroit Free Press, "Michael Bolton's film about Detroit coming to theaters for one-night screening," 9 Apr. 2018 The following contains three excerpts of correspondence between Learjet and American Airlines airbus flights and air traffic control from a recording provided by the FAA. — Matthew Martinez, star-telegram, "‘Something just passed over us’: Did two pilots encounter a UFO over Arizona? | Fort Worth Star-Telegram," 28 Mar. 2018 Listen to an exclusive excerpt of the book available on Audible, below. — Rachel Epstein, Marie Claire, "Joanne Ramos Wants 'The Farm' to Make You Feel Uncomfortable," 27 May 2019 According to an excerpt from Jeffrey Robinson's Rainier and Grace: An Intimate Portrait, published in the Chicago Tribune, the pair had train tickets to Paris, where 17-year-old Stephanie was slated to start school. — Chloe Foussianes, Town & Country, "The True Story of Grace Kelly's Death, and Why Rumors Surrounding It Have Been So Persistent," 31 Mar. 2019 Members, log in below to read an exclusive excerpt. Can't see the details? — Indianapolis Star, "#BookmarkThis with Sarah Jessica Parker & author Fatima Farheen Mirza," 30 May 2018 The following excerpt explains the subtle art of navigating text conversations with grace and poise. — Lauren Hubbard, Town & Country, "The Etiquette Secrets of Proper Texting," 30 Apr. 2019

Recent Examples on the Web: Verb

These lines were often excerpted and reprinted in radical and free-thinking periodicals, including in the US. — Eric Powell, The New York Review of Books, "Shelley’s Anti-Boney Fides," 6 June 2019 Nike would strengthen this argument by showing excerpted language from the endorsement contracts to support this assertion. — Michael Mccann, SI.com, "Kawhi Leonard vs. Nike: Analyzing the Raptors' Star's Logo Lawsuit," 4 June 2019 The following essay was excerpted from THE MOTH PRESENTS: OCCASIONAL MAGIC Copyright @ 2019 Edited by Catherine Byrnes. — Aleeza Kazmi, Teen Vogue, "How Pastels and Crayons Taught Me to Love My Brown Skin," 22 Mar. 2019 Thiebaud’s essay, originally prepared for the Museum of Modern Art, is provided as an exhibition brochure and excerpted in signage on the walls. — Charles Desmarais, San Francisco Chronicle, "Wayne Thiebaud’s early works still confound," 20 Jan. 2018 The following feature is excerpted from TIME’s Queen Elizabeth II: The World’s Longest-Reigning Monarch, available at retailers and on Amazon. — Eliana Dockterman, Time, "Elizabeth Didn’t Expect to Be Queen. Here’s How It Happened," 1 June 2018 As excerpted by Marie Claire, Witherspoon received an invitation to attend a Los Angeles fundraiser hosted by the Duchess of Cambridge and Prince William soon after their royal wedding had sent the world into a tizzy. — Devon Ivie, Glamour, "Reese Witherspoon Says She Fell Under Kate Middleton's 'Spell' When They First Met," 26 Sep. 2018 The following is excerpted from Masters of Modern Soccer: How the World’s Best Play the Twenty-First-Century Game. — Grant Wahl, SI.com, "Masters of Modern Soccer: Chicharito and the Art of Mexico's Synchronization," 3 May 2018 This article is excerpted from Hemingway's Boat, by Paul Hendrickson, to be published by Knopf in September 2011. — Paul Hendrickson, Town & Country, "The Muse of Kilimanjaro," 19 Dec. 2012

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'excerpt.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.