Meaning & use
singing praises
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“singing praises” is a form of “sing praises”. See that entry for the full set of meanings.
Meanings
verbintransitivereligion
praising God or a god by singing, used as the -ing form of 'sing praises'.
Grammar: Appears after 'be' or another verb: 'They were singing praises.' It does not take a direct object unless a preposition follows ('singing praises to God').
Patterns
- be singing praises to God
- singing praises in church
The choir was singing praises when we arrived at the church.
She spent the whole evening singing praises to the Lord.
Singing praises together is an important part of their worship.
phrasefixed phrasefigurative
the act of speaking with strong approval and admiration about someone.
Grammar: Most often 'singing someone's praises', with a possessive word before 'praises'.
Patterns
- be singing someone's praises
- keep singing someone's praises
The manager has been singing the new intern's praises all month.
Everyone was singing her praises after she solved the problem so quickly.
Common combinations
- be singing praises
- The monks were singing praises as the sun rose.
- singing someone's praises
- He kept singing his brother's praises to anyone who would listen.
- singing and dancing
- The whole village spent the night singing and dancing.
- singing praises to God
- They walked through the streets singing praises to God.
Synonyms and how they differ
- worshipping
- Covers all forms of religious devotion, not just singing, so it is broader than 'singing praises'.
- praising
- The general -ing form; it does not tell you whether the praise is sung or spoken.
- celebrating
- Suggests joy and festivity rather than religious devotion, so it fits a party better than a service.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: singing praises or singing prices?
singing praises vs singing prices
A mistake caused by the similar sound of 'praises' and 'prices'. 'Prices' are amounts of money, so 'singing prices' is not a real phrase.
Practice
When we walked into the hall, the choir ______ praises to God.
Choose one answer.
'The choir' is treated as a single group, so it takes a singular verb; the past continuous 'was singing' matches 'When we walked into the hall'. 'Were singing' wrongly treats the group as plural here, 'is singing' clashes with the past time, and 'sings' is simple present.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “singing praises”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.