punctuation

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 The Sweetener World Tour is over, after all, and this performance felt like punctuation to the end of a long sentence. — Emily Tannenbaum, Glamour, "Fans Think Ariana Grande Made a Pete Davidson Reference During Her Grammys Performance," 27 Jan. 2020 Food manufacturers have been infantilizing us by selling calorie-dense, salty, sweet stuff in brightly colored packages with exciting punctuation for a very long time. — Tamar Haspel, Washington Post, "How can we feed our kids better? Start by taking a look in the mirror.," 23 Dec. 2019 The book was almost unreadable, haphazardly capitalized, lacking punctuation and written in florid, apocalyptic prose. — Ellen Barry, New York Times, "The Jungle Prince of Delhi," 22 Nov. 2019 The devices often misfire, inserting random characters or punctuation into messages, Robertson said. — Elise Schmelzer, The Denver Post, "Technology from 1964 keeps Colorado’s deaf inmates from communicating with the outside. A judge’s ruling just changed that.," 20 Sep. 2019 Computer science is an art form of words and punctuation, thoughtfully placed and goal-oriented, even if not necessarily deployed to evoke surprise or longing. — Dan Rockmore, The New Yorker, "The Mechanical Muse," 7 Jan. 2020 Ryan said a panel of six judges used a rubric to assess the originality, organization, descriptive language and grammar (including punctuation and spelling) of the essays. — Carol Kovach, cleveland, "Zenovia Parkanzky’s essay wins chamber of commerce ‘Why I Love Lakewood’ contest," 9 Dec. 2019 Incorrect punctuation and grammar conjugation were not counted. — Marina Di Marzo, CNN, "How often does Trump misspell words on Twitter? These researchers have an answer," 3 Nov. 2019 This year, however, the most memorable season’s punctuation really should be the likely conclusion of the college career of the brilliant Alabama quarterback Tua Tagovailoa. — Harvey Araton, New York Times, "End of the Year Means Another Contrived College Football Playoff," 25 Dec. 2019

These 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.