WORDS

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does words mean? 

• WORDS (noun)
  The noun WORDS has 5 senses:

1. the words that are spoken

2. the text of a popular song or musical-comedy number

3. language that is spoken or written

4. an angry dispute

5. words making up the dialogue of a play

  Familiarity information: WORDS used as a noun is common.

 Dictionary entry details 

• WORDS (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

The words that are spoken

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Context example:

I listened to his words very closely

Hypernyms ("words" is a kind of...):

language; oral communication; speech; speech communication; spoken communication; spoken language; voice communication ((language) communication by word of mouth)

Sense 2

Meaning:

The text of a popular song or musical-comedy number

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Synonyms:

language; lyric; words

Context example:

the song uses colloquial language

Hypernyms ("words" is a kind of...):

text; textual matter (the words of something written)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "words"):

love lyric (the lyric of a love song)

Holonyms ("words" is a part of...):

song; vocal (a short musical composition with words)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Language that is spoken or written

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Context example:

she put her thoughts into words

Hypernyms ("words" is a kind of...):

language; linguistic communication (a systematic means of communicating by the use of sounds or conventional symbols)

Sense 4

Meaning:

An angry dispute

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Synonyms:

dustup; quarrel; row; run-in; words; wrangle

Context example:

they had words

Hypernyms ("words" is a kind of...):

conflict; difference; difference of opinion; dispute (a disagreement or argument about something important)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "words"):

affray; altercation; fracas (noisy quarrel)

bicker; bickering; fuss; pettifoggery; spat; squabble; tiff (a quarrel about petty points)

bust-up (a serious quarrel (especially one that ends a friendship))

Sense 5

Meaning:

Words making up the dialogue of a play

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Synonyms:

actor's line; speech; words

Context example:

the actor forgot his speech

Hypernyms ("words" is a kind of...):

line (text consisting of a row of words written across a page or computer screen)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "words"):

aside (a line spoken by an actor to the audience but not intended for others on the stage)

cue (an actor's line that immediately precedes and serves as a reminder for some action or speech)

monologue (a (usually long) dramatic speech by a single actor)

soliloquy (a (usually long) dramatic speech intended to give the illusion of unspoken reflections)

throwaway (words spoken in a casual way with conscious under-emphasis)

Holonyms ("words" is a part of...):

dialog; dialogue (the lines spoken by characters in drama or fiction)

 Context examples 

And Bidarshik says that my words be wise.

(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)

I distinguished several other words without being able as yet to understand or apply them, such as good, dearest, unhappy.

(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)

“My dear Catherine, you must not—you must not indeed—” were Eleanor's first connected words.

(Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen)

In other words, there’s good news regarding your home.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)

The captain has said too much or he has said too little, and I'm bound to say that I require an explanation of his words.

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

Your words are empty to me.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

Anne could not immediately get over the shock and mortification of finding such words applied to her father.

(Persuasion, by Jane Austen)

Dorothy looked inside the Golden Cap and saw some words written upon the lining.

(The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, by L. Frank Baum)

I remembered his words when I was in doubt and darkness myself.

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

And indeed he does not want my help; you do not know him as I do; he is safe, he is quite safe; mark my words, he will never more be heard of.

(The Strange Case Of Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde, by Robert Louis Stevenson)