Definition

1. Noun:
   • A pair of quotation marks: The punctuation marks " " used to enclose a direct quotation, a word or phrase for emphasis, or a title.

Usage

• Primary Use: To indicate the exact words spoken or written by someone (direct speech), or to set off a specific word or phrase from the surrounding text.
  • The teacher said, "Please open your books to page ten."
  • The word "unique" is often misused.
• Typographical Convention: In American English, double quotes are the standard for primary quotations. Single quotes () are used for a quote within a quote.
  • She explained, "He told me, 'I'll be there soon,' and then he left."

Examples

• Noun:
  • Always place periods and commas inside the closing double quotes.
  • In the manuscript, the character's thoughts were enclosed in double quotes, which was confusing.
  • The style guide requires the use of double quotes for article titles within the text.

Advanced Usage

• Scare Quotes: Double quotes can be used to express irony, skepticism, or to indicate that a term is being used in a non-standard or specialized way.
  • The "fresh" seafood had been frozen for months.
  • His so-called "friends" were the ones who betrayed him.
• In Programming and Computing: In many programming languages, double quotes are used to denote string literals (a sequence of characters).
  • In Python, you can define a string with double quotes: message = "Hello, world!"

Variants and Related Words

• Quotation Marks (n): The general term for punctuation marks used to indicate quotations. "Double quotes" are one type.
• Single Quotes (n): Punctuation marks () often used for quotations within quotations or in British English as the primary quotation marks.
• Inverted Commas (n): Another term for quotation marks, commonly used in British English.

Synonyms

• Quotation marks
• Speech marks (informal, chiefly British English)
• Inverted commas (chiefly British English)

Related Phrases

• In double quotes: Enclosed by double quotation marks.
  • The phrase was in double quotes to show it was a direct citation.
• Open/close double quotes: The specific marks used at the beginning () and end () of a quoted section.
  • Remember to include both the open and close double quotes.

Noun

1. a pair of quotation marks