| Definitions | | periphrase |
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noun (plural: periphrases)
- (rhetorical): The use of more words than are necessary to express the idea; a roundabout, or indirect, way of speaking; circumlocution.
- To describe by enigmatic periphrases. -De Quincey.
verb (periphras, ing)
- (transitive): To express by periphrase or circumlocution.
- (intransitive): To use circumlocution.
Etymology: periphrasis, , from to think about, to be expressed periphrastically; + to speak: confer périphrase. See phrase.
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