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verbal

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Definition:

A verb form that functions in a sentence as a noun or a modifier rather than as a verb. See also: Identifying Verbals.

Etymology:

From the Latin, "word"

Examples:

  • infinitives
    "To laugh often and love much . . . to appreciate beauty, to find the best in others, to give one's self . . . this is to have succeeded."
    (Ralph Waldo Emerson)


  • participles
    "The eagles swooped and hovered, leaning on the air, and swung close together, feinting and screaming with delight."
    (N. Scott Momaday, House Made of Dawn)


  • gerunds
    "We can only learn to love by loving.
    (Iris Murdoch)
Pronunciation: VUR-bul

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