adj. Of or being a modifier, especially a participle or participial phrase, that grammatically modifies the subject of its sentence but semantically modifies another element of the sentence or an unstated referent, as approaching Dallas in the sentence Approaching Dallas, the skyline came into view. See Usage Note at participle. |
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2022 by HarperCollins Publishers. All rights reserved.