semicolon

Semicolons ( ; ) are used for two main purposes: to separate lengthy or complex items within a list and to connect independent clauses. They are often described as being more powerful than commas, while not quite as a strong as periods (full stops).

semicolon

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Common: ITU-T: semicolon; semi. Rare: weenie; INTERCAL: hybrid, pit-thwong.

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semicolon

In programming, the semicolon (;) is often used to separate various elements of an expression. For example, in the C statement for (x=0; x<10; x++) the semicolons separate the starting value, number of iterations and increment).

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The following article is from The Great Soviet Encyclopedia (1979). It might be outdated or ideologically biased.

Semicolon

a punctuation mark consisting of a period above a comma (;). A semicolon is used between the clauses of a conjunctionless compound sentence if the clauses are lengthy and contain commas, and between the clauses of a complex sentence if they are fairly long or contain commas. A semicolon is also used between lengthy homogeneous parts of a simple sentence, particularly if one of them contains commas. Finally, a semicolon is used between collaterally subordinated clauses if they are long, contain commas, and are not joined by coordinating conjunctions.

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References in periodicals archive

To define the independent clauses, semi-colons replace commas after "large," "souls," and "cold," but in the process they set up a syntactic hierarchy, whereby commas are contained within word chunks separated by semi-colons.

Reclaiming Conrad from His Editors: The Case of An Outcast of the Islands

The tribunal concluded that the semi-colon created two separate antecedent clauses and Mo-Tires had to pay taxes tc Revenue Canada on both its re-treading service and the original casings.

Comma law

I distinctly remember, even now, the excitement I felt when I first learned the wide and varied uses of the semi-colon. I was in an American literature survey course, which puts me roughly somewhere in my sophomore year of college--not too long ago, really.

A comma-fused past: relating to the mistakes of tutees

"They argue for hours over whether the punctuation mark should be a comma or a semi-colon, or whether the word in question will be 'could' or 'may.'"

Confronting problems multilaterally can be less than effective

You can see what an entirely different thing a period is from a comma, a colon or a semi-colon.

Poetry and Grammar

In some countries, the semi-colon (";") is used instead of the comma primarily because of the comma's role as the decimal separator in those countries.

Interactive data and the tax executive: why tax standards setters are paying attention to XBRL (and why you should, too!)

Seventy-seven authors contributed short essays (a few paragraphs to 2,000 words) on various subjects: a drowning in Tucson, hitchhiking, sounds, colors abandoned by the Crayola company, Mexican farm workers, small towns such as Murdo, South Dakota, a scarlet fever epidemic in 1944, an Armenian grandmother watching the Yankees, the Taj Mahal, fishing and sleeping in the woods, gay love in Amsterdam, ugly women, winter, trains, French lessons, the semi-colon, gray whales, jet lag, human cruelty, fatherhood, the ghetto girls' guide to dating and romance, and ritual meals.

Kitchen, Judith, ed. Short Takes: Brief Encounters with Contemporary Nonfiction

"There's no win; no fee; and no hidden charges." If I'd been asked to author the ad, I think I might have omitted that first, distinctly audible, semi-colon.

Horribile Dictu

Because of a missed semi-colon, the editorial read as though these women were among the women murdered or missing in the Vancouver area, some of whose bodies have been located at the Pickton pig farm just outside the city.

Let's make it clear

In these cases, I have used a semi-colon to separate the consecutive sources cited.

Special volume: performance, politics, and culture in the Southwest of Britain, 1350-1642, part 2