punctuate
verb /ˈpʌŋktʃueɪt/
/ˈpʌŋktʃueɪt/
Verb Forms
| present simple I / you / we / they punctuate | /ˈpʌŋktʃueɪt/ /ˈpʌŋktʃueɪt/ |
| he / she / it punctuates | /ˈpʌŋktʃueɪts/ /ˈpʌŋktʃueɪts/ |
| past simple punctuated | /ˈpʌŋktʃueɪtɪd/ /ˈpʌŋktʃueɪtɪd/ |
| past participle punctuated | /ˈpʌŋktʃueɪtɪd/ /ˈpʌŋktʃueɪtɪd/ |
| -ing form punctuating | /ˈpʌŋktʃueɪtɪŋ/ /ˈpʌŋktʃueɪtɪŋ/ |
- [transitive, often passive] punctuate something (with something) to interrupt something fairly often and regularly
- Her speech was punctuated by bursts of applause.
- He punctuates his conversation with snatches of song.
- [intransitive, transitive] punctuate (something) to divide writing into sentences and phrases by using special marks, for example commas, question marks, etc.Topics Languagec1
Word Originmid 17th cent. (in the sense ‘point out’): from medieval Latin punctuat- ‘brought to a point’, from the verb punctuare, from punctum ‘a point’.