How to Use semicolon in a Sentence

semicolon

noun

• Here are the facts of the case, for those who may have been pinned under a semicolon.
  — Adam Davidson, The New Yorker, 17 Mar. 2017
• The L and the colon/semicolon keys are fine, so my right hand is acid-free, but what explains the left hand?
  — John Kelly, Washington Post, 11 June 2017
• My father, who was a fine slinger of verbiage, was a huge fan of the semicolon.
  — Murr Brewster, The Christian Science Monitor, 6 Feb. 2023
• Isn’t that an excuse to haul out the heavy equipment and promote the commas to semicolons?
  — Mary Norris, The New Yorker, 22 Nov. 2019
• Fans will spot things like like the number 92 for the year she was born, semicolon tattoo from her 13RW days, and an arrow.
  — Kelsey Stiegman, Seventeen, 3 Dec. 2019
• A semicolon is used when an author could've chosen to end their sentence, but chose not to.
  — Hannah Orenstein, Seventeen, 17 Apr. 2017
• Changing a comma to a semicolon alters the meaning of death.
  — Matthew J. Palm, orlandosentinel.com, 12 Sep. 2021
• Both kinds begin with an ampersand (&) and end with a semicolon (;).
  — Pstatz, WIRED, 15 Feb. 2010
• The poet Ron Padgett pointed out to me the technical shrewdness of the compound last line: the all-time best use of a semicolon in place of a line break.
  — Peter Schjeldahl, The New Yorker, 16 Dec. 2019
• Everything is of total importance—the first chapter of the book and a semicolon.
  — Gal Beckerman, The Atlantic, 5 Jan. 2023
• Currently, Windows 10 users can open the emoji window by typing WIN and the semicolon (;) keys at the same time.
  — Mark Hachman, PCWorld, 11 Oct. 2019
• Some people believe that semicolons are just a crutch used by journalists who want to appear smart; that just isn't true.
  — Michael Schaub, latimes.com, 28 June 2019
• The semicolon represents the power and strength of living in your light, and this beautiful piece is a priceless reminder.
  — Glamour, 21 May 2021
• Michael Bierut, a partner at Pentagram, the global design firm, was given the semicolon.
  — Penelope Green, New York Times, 31 Jan. 2023
• Many lines end with a period, while others end with a semicolon, a relative of the period.
  — Sandra Lim, New York Times, 28 July 2022
• Using the tools provided, fans can put together a little woven mat, adorned with a white semicolon as a tribute to the album's name.
  — Natalie Morin, refinery29.com, 23 Oct. 2020
• The semicolon is a symbol used as a message against suicide and other mental health issues and represents choosing to start a new chapter in your life.
  — Jasmine Gomez, Seventeen, 16 May 2019
• In fact, Gottlieb and Caro had a long history of antagonism, squabbling over things large and small, including the semicolon.
  — Mary Norris, The New Yorker, 30 June 2022
• Instead of a period, authors use the semicolon to continue a sentence.
  — Mehera Bonner, Marie Claire, 10 Apr. 2017
• Mr. Greenwell writes long sentences, pinned at the joints by semicolons, that push forward like confidently searching vines.
  — Dwight Garner, New York Times, 19 Jan. 2016
• In regard to Pound’s punctuation, using a semicolon after his first line, thus rendering the first...
  — WSJ, 19 Jan. 2017
• On his right arm is a semicolon, a common suicide awareness tattoo in the color teal for post-traumatic stress disorder awareness.
  — Washington Post, 11 Mar. 2022
• Kolby struggled at first on the SAT questions testing a student’s knowledge of commas, semicolons and apostrophes.
  — Talia Richman, Washington Post, 7 Aug. 2019
• The text is repetitive but disciplined, riddled with voids and awash with semicolons, which often begin and end a chapter; Steinberg can go pages without a period.
  — Lidija Haas, Harper's magazine, 28 Oct. 2019
• Pity the forlorn semicolon; battered by critics from every direction.
  — Gary Gilson, Star Tribune, 26 June 2021
• For two weeks, 196 countries had huddled in countless meetings, wrangling over dense pages of text, scrutinizing every semicolon.
  — Fiona Harvey, Wired, 26 Dec. 2020
• Democrats have dug in over any change to the current program, solemnly declaring that changing so much as a comma or semicolon in the ACA’s expansion of the program would immediately sentence millions of children to death.
  — Michael Tanner, National Review, 5 July 2017
• Watson’s examples of virtuoso semicolon users usually have a strong preference one way or the other.
  — Christopher Tayler, Harper's magazine, 24 June 2019
• For fun: Kurt Vonnegut said using semicolons was an unnecessary pretension, indulged in only by writers who want to show off their fancy-pants degrees.
  — Rebecca Onion, Slate Magazine, 3 May 2017
• Where has the semicolon gone during this enjoyable screed against overreaching grammarians?
  — Wendy Smith, BostonGlobe.com, 1 Aug. 2019

Last Updated: 15 Sep 2024