verb

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noun

plural verbs
: a word (such as jump, happen, or exist) that functions as the main word of the predicate of a sentence and expresses an act, occurrence, or state of being or that is used with another verb as an auxiliary see also linking verb, phrasal verb, pro-verb

Note: In various languages, verbs take different forms (or inflections) to convey different kinds of grammatical information (such as tense, voice, mood, and aspect) and to agree grammatically (as in number and person) with the subject of a sentence.

verbless adjective

verb

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verb

verbed; verbing

transitive verb

: to use (a word and especially a noun) as a verb : to make (a word) into a verb
A television announcer in Vero Beach, Fla., spoke of a promise "to upkeep the beach," thus verbing a word that had been in use as an honest noun since 1884.James Kilpatrick
But it is by no means unusual for a noun to be verbed.Theodore M. Bernstein

Did you know?

What is a verb?

Verbs are words that show an action (sing), occurrence (develop), or state of being (exist). Almost every sentence requires a verb. The basic form of a verb is known as its infinitive. The forms call, love, break, and go are all infinitives.

Almost all verbs have two other important forms called participles. Participles are forms that are used to create several verb tenses (forms that are used to show when an action happened); they can also be used as adjectives. The present participle always ends in -ing: calling, loving, breaking, going. (There is also a kind of noun, called a gerund, that is identical in form to the present participle form of a verb.) The past participle usually ends in -ed, but many past participles have irregular endings: called, loved, broken, gone.

The verb's past tense usually has the same -ed form as the past participle. For many verbs, however, the past tense is irregular. An irregular past tense is not always identical to an irregular past participle: called, loved, broke, went.

The two main kinds of verbs, transitive verbs and intransitive verbs, are discussed at the entries for transitive and intransitive.

Examples of verb in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Noun
As with Uber gradually becoming a noun, verb and adjective to the masses, the bet is that with time the obscure qualities of crypto will be anything but. John Tamny, Forbes, 17 Oct. 2024 The verbs that glued his new grammar together were physical actions — measuring a particle’s position, say, or moving it, or flipping it upside down. Quanta Magazine, 25 Sep. 2024 Let’s pause and revisit Bieber for a moment and assume part of her motivation for NAD-ing (yes, it’s used as a verb) is to retain her youthful looks for longer. Rebecca Suhrawardi, Forbes, 20 Sep. 2024 There's everyday English where operations are verbs, and then there's algebraic language where operations are not verbs. Jennifer Ouellette, Ars Technica, 19 Sep. 2024 See all Example Sentences for verb 

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'verb.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Noun

Middle English verbe, borrowed from Anglo-French, borrowed from Latin verbum "word, verb" — more at word entry 1

First Known Use

Noun

14th century, in the meaning defined above

Verb

1928, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of verb was in the 14th century

Dictionary Entries Near verb

Cite this Entry

“Verb.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/verb. Accessed 2 Nov. 2024.

Kids Definition

verb

noun
: a word that is usually the grammatical center of a predicate and expresses an act, occurrence, or state of being and that in various languages is inflected (as for agreement with the subject or for tense)

More from Merriam-Webster on verb

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