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Definition of picture - 6 dictionary results

pic⋅ture

  [pik-cher] noun, verb, -tured, -tur⋅ing.
Use picture in a Sentence
–noun
1. a visual representation of a person, object, or scene, as a painting, drawing, photograph, etc.: I carry a picture of my grandchild in my wallet.
2. any visible image, however produced: pictures reflected in a pool of water.
3. a mental image: a clear picture of how he had looked that day.
4. a particular image or reality as portrayed in an account or description; depiction; version.
5. a tableau, as in theatrical representation.
6. motion picture.
7. pictures, Informal: Older Use. movies.
8. a person, thing, group, or scene regarded as resembling a work of pictorial art in beauty, fineness of appearance, etc.: She was a picture in her new blue dress.
9. the image or perfect likeness of someone else: He is the picture of his father.
10. a visible or concrete embodiment of some quality or condition: the picture of health.
11. a situation or set of circumstances: the economic picture.
12. the image on a computer monitor, the viewing screen of a television set, or a motion-picture screen.
–verb (used with object)
13. to represent in a picture or pictorially, as by painting or drawing.
14. to form a mental picture of; imagine: He couldn't picture himself doing such a thing.
15. to depict in words; describe graphically: He pictured Rome so vividly that you half-believed you were there.
16. to present or create as a setting; portray: His book pictured the world of the future.
Origin:
1375–1425; late ME < L pictūra the act of painting, a painting, equiv. to pict(us) (ptp. of pingere to paint ) + -ūra -ure

Related forms:
pic⋅tur⋅a⋅ble, adjective
pic⋅tur⋅a⋅ble⋅ness, noun
pic⋅tur⋅a⋅bly, adverb
pic⋅tur⋅er, noun

Synonyms:
13, 15. delineate, paint, draw, represent.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To picture
pic·ture   (pĭk'chər)   
n.  

  1. A visual representation or image painted, drawn, photographed, or otherwise rendered on a flat surface.

  2. A visible image, especially one on a flat surface or screen: the picture reflected in the lake; focused the picture on the movie screen.

    1. A vivid or realistic verbal description: a Shakespearean picture of guilt.

    2. A vivid mental image.

  4. A person or object bearing a marked resemblance to another: She's the picture of her mother.

  5. A person, object, or scene that typifies or embodies an emotion, state of mind, or mood: Your face was the very picture of horror.

  6. The chief circumstances of an event or time; a situation.

  7. A movie.

  8. A tableau vivant.

tr.v.   pic·tured, pic·tur·ing, pic·tures

  1. To make a visible representation of.

  2. To form a mental image of; visualize.

  3. To describe vividly in words; make a verbal picture of: pictured their heroism in glowing language. See Synonyms at represent.


[Middle English, from Latin pictūra, from pictus, painted, past participle of pingere, to paint; see peig- in Indo-European roots.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

picture 
c.1420, from L. pictura "painting," from pictus, pp. of pingere "to make pictures, to paint, to embroider," (see paint). The verb, in the mental sense, is from 1738; pictures "movies," short for moving pictures, is from 1912. Picture post-card first recorded 1899. Phrase every picture tells a story first attested 1906, in an advertisement for kidney pills; a picture is worth a thousand words (1921), said to be a Confucian proverb, first recorded in a printers' professional journal.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Financial Dictionary

picture

The bid and ask price at which a dealer is willing to buy or sell a security.

Wall Street Words: An A to Z Guide to Investment Terms by David L. Scott.
Copyright © 2003. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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Computing Dictionary

picture
image

The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing, © 1993-2007 Denis Howe
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Idioms & Phrases

picture

In addition to the idiom beginning with picture, also see get the message (picture); in the picture; pretty as a picture; take a picture; the picture.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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