Definitions for dangling modifier
dan·gling mod·i·fi·er

Princeton's WordNetRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. dangling modifier, misplaced modifiernoun

   a word or phrase apparently modifying an unintended word because of its placement in a sentence: e.g., `when young' in `when young, circuses appeal to all of us'

WiktionaryRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. dangling modifiernoun

   A word or clause that modifies another word or clause ambiguously, possibly causing confusion with regard to the speaker's intended meaning.

WikipediaRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. Dangling modifier

   A dangling modifier (also known as a dangling participle or illogical participle) is a type of ambiguous grammatical construct whereby a grammatical modifier could be misinterpreted as being associated with a word other than the one intended. A dangling modifier has no subject and is usually a participle. A writer may use a dangling modifier intending to modify a subject while word order may imply that the modifier describes an object, or vice versa. An example of a dangling modifier appears in the sentence "Turning the corner, a handsome school building appeared." The modifying clause Turning the corner describes the behavior of the narrator, but the narrator is only implicit in the sentence. The sentence could be misread as the turning action attaching either to the handsome school building or to nothing at all. As another example, in the sentence "At the age of eight, my family finally bought a dog", the modifier At the age of eight is dangling. It is intended to specify the narrator's age when the family bought the dog, but the narrator is again only implicitly a part of the sentence. It could be read as the family was eight years old when it bought the dog, or even that the dog was eight when it was bought.

ChatGPTRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. dangling modifier

   A dangling modifier is a word or phrase that modifies a word not clearly stated or present in the sentence. These modifiers can cause confusion or unintended humor as they do not relate logically to anything in the sentence. They're called 'dangling' because they are left hanging with nothing to modify.

WikidataRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. Dangling modifier

   A dangling modifier is an ambiguous grammatical construct, often considered an error in prescriptivist accounts of English, whereby a grammatical modifier could be misinterpreted as being associated with a word other than the one intended, or with no particular word at all. For example, a writer may have meant to modify the subject, but word order makes the modifier seem to modify an object instead. Such ambiguities can lead to unintentional humor or difficulty in understanding a sentence in formal contexts. A typical example of a dangling modifier is illustrated in Turning the corner, a handsome school building appeared. The modifying clause Turning the corner is clearly supposed to describe the behaviour of the narrator, but grammatically it appears to apply to nothing in particular, or to the school building. Similarly, in At the age of eight, my family finally bought a dog, the modifier At the age of eight "dangles," not attaching to the subject of the main clause.

Matched Categories

1. • Modifier

How to pronounce dangling modifier?

1. Alex

   US English

   David

   US English

   Mark

   US English

   Daniel

   British

   Libby

   British

   Mia

   British

   Karen

   Australian

   Hayley

   Australian

   Natasha

   Australian

   Veena

   Indian

   Priya

   Indian

   Neerja

   Indian

   Zira

   US English

   Oliver

   British

   Wendy

   British

   Fred

   US English

   Tessa

   South African

How to say dangling modifier in sign language?

Numerology

1. Chaldean Numerology

   The numerical value of dangling modifier in Chaldean Numerology is: 3

2. Pythagorean Numerology

   The numerical value of dangling modifier in Pythagorean Numerology is: 3

References

1. ^ Princeton's WordNet
   http://wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn?s=dangling modifier
2. ^ Wiktionary
   https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Dangling_Modifier
3. ^ Wikipedia
   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dangling_Modifier
4. ^ ChatGPT
   https://chat.openai.com
5. ^ Wikidata
   https://www.wikidata.org/w/index.php?search=dangling modifier