Phrase vs. Collocation — What's the Difference?

In syntax and grammar, a phrase is a group of words which act together as a grammatical unit. For instance, the English expression "the very happy squirrel" is a noun phrase which contains the adjective phrase "very happy".

In corpus linguistics, a collocation is a series of words or terms that co-occur more often than would be expected by chance. In phraseology, a collocation is a type of compositional phraseme, meaning that it can be understood from the words that make it up.

A sequence of words that have meaning, especially when forming part of a sentence.

The act of collocating or the state of being collocated.

A characteristic way or mode of expression

An arrangement or juxtaposition of words or other elements, especially those that commonly co-occur, as rancid butter, bosom buddy, or dead serious.

A brief, apt, and cogent expression

(uncountable) The grouping or juxtaposition of things, especially words or sounds.

(Music) A short passage or segment, often consisting of four measures or forming part of a larger unit.

(countable) Such a specific grouping.

A series of dance movements forming a unit in a choreographic pattern.

A sequence of words or terms that co-occur more often than would be expected by chance (i.e., the statistically significant placement of particular words in a language), often representing an established name for, or idiomatic way of conveying, a particular semantic concept.

To express orally or in writing

(mathematics) A method of finding an approximate solution of an ordinary differential equation $L[y]=0$ by determining coefficients in an expansion $y(x)\; =\; y\_\{0\}(x)\; +\; \backslash sum\_\{l=0\}^\{q\}\backslash alpha\_\{l\}\; y\_\{l\}(x)$ so as to make $L[y]$ vanish at prescribed points; the expansion with the coefficients thus found is the sought approximation.

To divide (a passage) into phrases.

(computing) A service allowing multiple customers to locate network, server, and storage gear and connect them to a variety of telecommunications and network service providers, at a minimum of cost and complexity.

To combine (notes) in a phrase.

The act of placing; the state of being placed with something else; disposition in place; arrangement.

To make or express phrases.

A combination of related words within a sentence that occurs more frequently than would be predicted in a random arrangement of words; a combination of words that occurs with sufficient frequency to be recongizable as a common combination, especially a pair of words that occur adjacent to each other. Also called stable collocation. Combinations of words having intervening words between them, such as verb and object pairs, may also be collocations.

(Music) To perform a passage with the correct phrasing.

A grouping of words in a sentence

A short written or spoken expression.

The act of positioning close together (or side by side);

(grammar) A word or, more commonly, a group of words that functions as a single unit in the syntax of a sentence, usually consisting of a head, or central word, and elaborating words.

(music) A small section of music in a larger piece.

(archaic) A mode or form of speech; diction; expression.

(dance) A short individual motion forming part of a choreographed dance.

(transitive) To express (an action, thought or idea) by means of particular words.

To perform a passage with the correct phrasing.

To divide into melodic phrases.

A brief expression, sometimes a single word, but usually two or more words forming an expression by themselves, or being a portion of a sentence; as, an adverbial phrase.

A short, pithy expression; especially, one which is often employed; a peculiar or idiomatic turn of speech; as, to err is human.

A mode or form of speech; the manner or style in which any one expreses himself; diction; expression.

A short clause or portion of a period.

To express in words, or in peculiar words; to call; to style.

To use proper or fine phrases.

An expression forming a grammatical constituent of a sentence but not containing a finite verb

A short musical passage

An expression whose meanings cannot be inferred from the meanings of the words that make it up

Put into words or an expression;