im·age·ry

[im-ij-ree, im-i-juh-ree]
noun, plural im·age·ries.
1.
the formation of mental images, figures, or likenesses of things, or of such images collectively: the dim imagery of a dream.
2.
pictorial images, as in works of art.
3.
the use of rhetorical images.
4.
figurative description or illustration; rhetorical images collectively.
5.
Psychology. mental images collectively, especially those produced by the action of imagination.

Origin:
1275–1325; Middle English imagerie < Old French. See image, -ery

im·a·ge·ri·al [im-uh-jeer-ee-uhl] , adjective
im·a·ge·ri·al·ly, adverb
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
Cite This Source Link To imagery
00:10
Imagery is always a great word to know.
So is interrobang. Does it mean:
a printed punctuation mark (‽), available only in some typefaces, designed to combine the question mark (?) and the exclamation point (!), indicating a mixture of query and interjection, as after a rhetorical question.
a stew of meat, vegetables, potatoes, etc.
Collins
World English Dictionary
imagery (ˈɪmɪdʒrɪ, -dʒərɪ) [Click for IPA pronunciation guide]
 
n , pl -ries
1.  figurative or descriptive language in a literary work
2.  images collectively
3.  psychol
 a.  the materials or general processes of the imagination
 b.  image See also imagination the characteristic kind of mental images formed by a particular individual
4.  military the presentation of objects reproduced photographically (by infrared or electronic means) as prints or electronic displays

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
Cite This Source
Etymonline
Word Origin & History

imagery
early 14c., from O.Fr. imagerie (13c.), from imagier, from image (see image).
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
Cite This Source
American Heritage
Medical Dictionary

imagery im·age·ry (ĭm'ĭj-rē)
n.

  1. A set of mental pictures or images.

  2. A technique in behavior therapy in which the patient is conditioned to use pleasant fantasies to counteract the unpleasant feelings associated with anxiety.

The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Cite This Source
American Heritage
Cultural Dictionary

imagery definition


The mental pictures created by a piece of writing: “The imagery of “The Waste Land” — crumbling towers, dried-up wells, toppled tombstones — conveys the author's sense of a civilization in decay.”

The American Heritage® New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source
Easton
Bible Dictionary

Imagery definition


only in the phrase "chambers of his imagery" (Ezek. 8:12). (See CHAMBER.)

Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary
Cite This Source
Example sentences
Understanding the behavior of fish will enable you to produce stunning imagery.
Photographers have been manipulating imagery since the medium was invented.
Mid-term elections do not normally generate such histrionic imagery.
They conducted demographic studies with the help of satellite imagery.
Copyright © 2013 Dictionary.com, LLC. All rights reserved.
  • Please Login or Sign Up to use the Recent Searches feature