1A segment of text—a sentence, clause, or phrase-like unit within writing.
その文章には印象的な句がいくつかあった。
There were several striking passages in that piece of writing.
彼のスピーチの中の一句が心に残った。
One line from his speech stayed with me.
この句の意味がよく分からない。
I don't really understand the meaning of this passage.
2In grammar, a phrase—a group of words functioning together as a single unit (e.g. noun phrase, verb phrase).
この文の「大きな家」は名詞句だ。
'The big house' in this sentence is a noun phrase.
動詞句の構造を英文法の授業で学んだ。
I learned about the structure of verb phrases in English grammar class.
3A line or verse in classical poetry, made up of a fixed number of syllables or characters.
その漢詩は四つの句から成る。
That Chinese poem consists of four verses.
和歌の上の句と下の句を分けて味わう。
In waka poetry, people appreciate the upper and lower verses separately.
4A haiku, or the opening 5-7-5 verse of a linked-verse (renga) sequence.
旅先で一句詠んでみた。
I tried composing a haiku while traveling.
有名な俳人の句を暗唱している。
I have memorized a verse by a famous haiku poet.
5A short, memorable saying, maxim, or idiomatic expression.
彼はよく古い句を引用して話す。
He often quotes old sayings when he speaks.
この本には人生訓となる句が多く載っている。
This book contains many maxims that offer life lessons.
6In computing, especially database query languages, a clause—a segment of a statement such as a WHERE clause.
SQLのWHERE句で条件を絞り込む。
You narrow down the conditions with the WHERE clause in SQL.
SELECT句とFROM句の書き方を復習した。
I reviewed how to write the SELECT and FROM clauses.