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Word for Word
Word for Word
Word for Word : Phrases
Meaning:
A precise following of another's words, i.e. verbatim, either in spoken repetition of those words or in a close study of a text.
Example:
Origin:
The 'close study' meaning of the expression does back to at least 1385 when Chaucer used it in The Legend of Dido, a poem from Legend of Good Women:
I could folwe [follow] word for word Virgile.
