word for word

Definition

•

using exactly the same words

She listened to everything I said and repeated it word for word to her mum.

a word-for-word account

•

If you translate speech or writing word for word, you change one word at a time in the same order rather than in phrases or other larger units of meaning.

(Definition of word for word from the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary & Thesaurus © Cambridge University Press)

+ Free Dictionary Toolbar for Browsers
+ Add Dictionary Search to iGoogle and your website

+ Become a fan on Facebook
+ Follow us on Twitter!

Browse the Dictionary

word noun (NEWS)
word noun (PROMISE)
word noun (ORDER)
word verb
word association noun
word for word
word gets about/around/round
word has it
word perfect adjective
word processing noun
word processor noun

Our dictionaries

British English
American English
Business English
Learner's Dictionary
Essential British English
Essential American English

English-Spanish
Español-inglés
English-Turkish

Browse the Thesaurus

Business
Clothes
Education
Finance
Light and colour
Personal care

take my word for it, at take it from me
put in a good word for sb
take sb's word for it, at take sb at their word

See all results »

take my word for it, at take it from me
put in a good word for sb
take sb's word for it, at take sb at their word

See all idiom results »

SMART Thesaurus

Synonyms and related words:

-speaking
anglophone
bilingual
francophone
interpret
interpreter
lingo
linguist
machine translation
monolingual
mother tongue
multilingual
native speaker
polyglot
second language
speak
target language
translate
translation
transliterate

See more results »

Topic: Using other languages

Word of the Day

tenterhooks

worried or nervous about something that is going to happen

Word of the Day ►

Blog

Read our blog about how the English language behaves.

Learn More ►

New Words

Find words and meanings that have just started to be used in English, and let us know what you think of them.