as in translation
an instance of expressing something in different words
your essays on human rights should have some original thought and not be simply a paraphrase of what's in the textbook
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as in to translate
to express something (as a text or statement) in different words
could you paraphrase your diagnosis of my medical condition, using simpler language?
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Recent Examples of paraphrase
Sean Keeler, The Denver Post, 22 Mar. 2025
Despite the patchwork libretto, Handel ingeniously parlayed Jennens’ quotations and paraphrases from the Old and New testaments into unexpected evocations of wonder and awe.
—Bob Blaisdell, The Christian Science Monitor, 20 Dec. 2024
Robert Abele, Los Angeles Times, 13 Mar. 2026
To paraphrase Denzel Washington, the Spirit needs to leave with something.
—Tamerra Griffin, New York Times, 13 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for paraphrase
Noun
To paraphrase noted philosopher Buddy The Elf: Lauren … here?
—Sean Keeler, The Denver Post, 22 Mar. 2025
Despite the patchwork libretto, Handel ingeniously parlayed Jennens’ quotations and paraphrases from the Old and New testaments into unexpected evocations of wonder and awe.
—Bob Blaisdell, The Christian Science Monitor, 20 Dec. 2024
Verb
The result — from the tunnels carved out by tomb robbers to the trains that run day and night — is a cinematic gift for the senses and specifically, to paraphrase one of the more philosophical characters, about our understanding of time’s ability to both preserve and destroy.
—Robert Abele, Los Angeles Times, 13 Mar. 2026
To paraphrase Denzel Washington, the Spirit needs to leave with something.
—Tamerra Griffin, New York Times, 13 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for paraphrase
Recent Examples of Synonyms for paraphrase
Noun
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Saudi Arabia expanded its Saudization program — requiring companies to hire only Saudis for certain roles or face penalties — to cover 69 additional job types, including data entry, secretarial work, and translation.—
Manal Albarakati,
semafor.com,
8 Apr. 2026
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There was a boom of translation from Japanese of short stories in that decade, with collections like Ivan Morris’ Modern Japanese Stories pointing readers to a new postwar canon of Japanese writing, from Kawabata to Mishima.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
7 Apr. 2026
Verb
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The Elevon Actuator Controller plays a central role, translating navigation data into physical movement of control surfaces.—
Aamir Khollam,
Interesting Engineering,
9 Apr. 2026
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That translates to a bold colour palette of oxblood, lapis blue, emerald and mustard, with a single shade used in each space.—
Condé Nast,
Condé Nast Traveler,
9 Apr. 2026
Noun
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Translation tools, meeting summaries and captions have the ability to smooth over gaps in fluency and assist non-native speakers in writing emails, translating, and functioning more confidently in English-first settings.—
Aslesha Mehta,
Fortune,
23 Mar. 2026
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But the oral histories Katherine conducted, interviewing elderly islanders, with Tepano translating, may have been more valuable still.—
Margaret Talbot,
New Yorker,
26 Jan. 2026
Verb
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One such company is Blueprint, an AI assistant that summarizes sessions, updates electronic health records, and helps individual therapists track patient progress.—
Rhitu Chatterjee,
NPR,
7 Apr. 2026
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Users can summarize, translate, or extract information from files, while OCR functionality enables text recognition from images.—
StackCommerce Team,
PC Magazine,
6 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Paraphrase.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/paraphrase. Accessed 13 Apr. 2026.
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