Word Wrap

Word wrapping is when a line of text automatically "wraps" to the next line when it gets to the end of a page or text field. This is different than a "word rap," which involves rhyming words to a rhythmic beat, though that may be more fun than typing. Most word processing programs use word wrap to keep the text within the default margins of the page. Without the word wrap feature, text would continue on one line until the user pressed "Enter" or "Return" to insert a line break.

Most programs that incorporate word wrap take the first word that does not fit on a line of text and move it to the beginning of the next line. Advanced word processing programs can hyphenate long words at appropriate places. While it is uncommon, sometimes a word, or string of characters ,will take up more than one line. In this case, the word wrap feature will simply continue the string of characters onto the next line.

Published: 2007