Merriam-Webster Logo
SINCE 1828
Menu
×

An Encyclopædia Britannica Company

noun phrase

noun, often capitalized N&P

Definition of noun phrase

  1. :  a phrase formed by a noun and all its modifiers and determiners; broadly :  any syntactic element (such as a clause, clitic, pronoun, or zero element) with a noun's function (such as the subject of a verb or the object of a verb or preposition) —abbreviation NP

See noun phrase defined for English-language learners

People Are Reading

emoji-the-quiz
The Emoji Quiz
alt-5978a79b75e17
Trending: 'Transgender' Americans Face New Restrictions
image1358596246
Words About Word Play
video-title-words-of-the-year-1066
Words of the Year: 1066

Examples of noun phrase in a Sentence

  1. In the sentence “I found the owner of the dog,” “the owner of the dog” is a noun phrase.

First Known Use of noun phrase

1884

NOUN PHRASE Defined for English Language Learners

noun phrase

noun

Definition of noun phrase for English Language Learners

  • : a group of words that acts like a noun in a sentence

Learn More about noun phrase

  1. See words that rhyme with noun phrase Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about noun phrase

Seen and Heard

What made you want to look up noun phrase? Please tell us where you read or heard it (including the quote, if possible).

show hide

Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

WORD OF THE DAY

akimbo

play

set in a bent position

Get Word of the Day daily email!

TRENDING NOW

  1. transgender Trump reverses military policy allowing transgender people to serve

  2. beleaguer 'Being subjected to constant or repeated trouble or harassment'

  3. scaramouch A new White House communications director

  4. non sequitur “It does not follow”

  5. admiral's mast A massive search ends with an 'admiral's mast'.

SEE ALL

BROWSE DICTIONARY

noun phrase

Test Your Vocabulary

The Emoji Quiz

  • emoji-the-quiz
  • What phase of the moon is this: 🌖 ?
Spell It

Can you spell these 10 commonly misspelled words?

TAKE THE QUIZ
Syn City

Test Your Knowledge - and learn some interesting things along the way.

TAKE THE QUIZ

Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Words at Play

alt-59775cb5d7779
Words We're Watching: 'Aquafaba'

Don't dump out the bean water just yet...

image1358596246
Words About Word Play

Don't just eat your words—play with them!

alt-596f95fe451e7
'Drought' & 'Drouth' Take Us Back In Time

A variant spelling with a long history

alt-59721dd897313
The 'Best' Way to Sign Off On An E-mail

Give them your best

Ask the Editors

video-title-words-of-the-year-1066
Words of the Year: 1066

Or, Why Pig Meat is Called 'Pork' and Cow Meat is Called 'Beef'

payday
How Often Is 'Biweekly'?

Don't get us started on 'bimonthly'

video-irregardless-grammar-peeve-blend-of-the-synonyms-irrespective-and-regardless
Irregardless

It is in fact a real word (but that doesn't mean you should use it).

video-moose-goose-weird-plurals
Weird Plurals

One goose, two geese. One moose, two... moose. What's up with that?

Word Games

emoji-the-quiz
The Emoji Quiz

Think you’re an emoji 👓 expert? Let’s see 🤔

Take the quiz
image941935269
A Game of Thrones Word Quiz

In the Game of Thrones quiz, you learn some new vocabulary. (It’s quite safe, really. You will not die.)

Take the quiz
Spell It
Spell It

Can you spell these 10 commonly misspelled words?

Take the quiz
Syn City
Syn City

Build a city of skyscrapers—one synonym at a time.

Play the game
Examples: noun phrase in a Sentence