nonsentence

(ˌnɒnˈsɛntəns)

1. (Grammar) grammar (sometimes used in a derogatory way) a string of words that is not a sentence

2. (Law) law a criminal sentence that is deemed by the speaker to be inadequate to the offence; the absence of a criminal sentence

adj

3. (Grammar) grammar not belonging to or part of a sentence

4. (Law) law not part of a criminal sentence

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

References in periodicals archive ?

While it isn't surprising that the system doesn't quite know what to do with nonsentence text, it seems worth commenting on some of the results.

Plustek BookReader V100

Some teacher of English, reading this, is certain to point out that I've already employed three nonsentences in this opus, and it's not even half finished: (1) "Take the semicolon''; (2) "Or a semiperiod,'' and (3) "Same with punctuation.'' OK, guilty as charged.

Punctuation that drives us 'semicrazy'!!!

For example, in defining the set of well-formed sentences of first order logic, one can begin with the set of all possible strings and, in a deflationary manner, exclude the nonsentences, or one can begin with the set of atomic formulae, and in an inflationary manner, build more complicated sentences out of the atomic formulae.