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scene - 7 dictionary results

scene

  [seen]
Use scene in a Sentence
–noun
1. the place where some action or event occurs: He returned to the scene of the murder.
2. any view or picture.
3. an incident or situation in real life.
4. an embarrassing outbreak or display of anger, strong feeling, or bad manners: Please don't make a scene in such a public place.
5. a division of a play or of an act of a play, usually representing what passes between certain of the actors in one place.
6. a unit of action or a segment of a story in a play, motion picture, or television show.
7. the place in which the action of a play or part of a play is supposed to occur.
8. scenery (def. 2).
9. Literature.
a. an episode, situation, or the like, as in a narrative.
b. the setting or locale of a story.
10. the stage, esp. of an ancient Greek or Roman theater.
11. an area or sphere of activity, current interest, etc.: the rock music scene; the fashion scene.
—Idioms
12. behind the scenes, in secret or in private.
13. make the scene, Slang. to appear in a particular place or engage in a particular activity: Let's make the scene downtown tonight. She was never one to make the drug scene.
Origin:
1530–40; < L scēna background (of the stage) < Gk skēn booth (where actors dressed)

Synonyms:
1. arena, stage, location; center, focus. 2. See view. 3. episode. 4. demonstration, spectacle, show.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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scene   (sēn)   
n.  
  1. Something seen by a viewer; a view or prospect.
  2. The place where an action or event occurs: the scene of the crime.
  3. The place in which the action of a play, movie, novel, or other narrative occurs; a setting.
    1. A subdivision of an act in a dramatic presentation in which the setting is fixed and the time continuous.
    2. A shot or series of shots in a movie constituting a unit of continuous related action.
    3. The scenery and properties for a dramatic presentation.
    4. A theater stage.
    5. A sphere of activity: observers of the political scene.
    6. Slang A situation or set of circumstances: a bad scene; a wild scene.
    1. The scenery and properties for a dramatic presentation.
    2. A theater stage.
    3. A sphere of activity: observers of the political scene.
    4. Slang A situation or set of circumstances: a bad scene; a wild scene.
  6. A real or fictitious episode, especially when described.
  7. A public display of passion or temper: tried not to make a scene.
    1. A sphere of activity: observers of the political scene.
    2. Slang A situation or set of circumstances: a bad scene; a wild scene.

[French scène, stage, from Old French, from Latin scaena, from Greek skēnē, tent, stage (via Etruscan).]
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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Scene

Scene\, n. [L. scaena, scena, Gr. skhnh` a covered place, a tent, a stage.]

1. The structure on which a spectacle or play is exhibited; the part of a theater in which the acting is done, with its adjuncts and decorations; the stage.

2. The decorations and fittings of a stage, representing the place in which the action is supposed to go on; one of the slides, or other devices, used to give an appearance of reality to the action of a play; as, to paint scenes; to shift the scenes; to go behind the scenes.

3. So much of a play as passes without change of locality or time, or important change of character; hence, a subdivision of an act; a separate portion of a play, subordinate to the act, but differently determined in different plays; as, an act of four scenes.

My dismal scene I needs must act alone. --Shak.

4. The place, time, circumstance, etc., in which anything occurs, or in which the action of a story, play, or the like, is laid; surroundings amid which anything is set before the imagination; place of occurrence, exhibition, or action. "In Troy, there lies the scene." --Shak.

The world is a vast scene of strife. --J. M. Mason.

5. An assemblage of objects presented to the view at once; a series of actions and events exhibited in their connection; a spectacle; a show; an exhibition; a view.

Through what new scenes and changes must we pass! --Addison.

6. A landscape, or part of a landscape; scenery.

A sylvan scene with various greens was drawn, Shades on the sides, and in the midst a lawn. --Dryden.

7. An exhibition of passionate or strong feeling before others; often, an artifical or affected action, or course of action, done for effect; a theatrical display.

Probably no lover of scenes would have had very long to wait for some explosions between parties, both equally ready to take offense, and careless of giving it. --De Quincey.

Behind the scenes, behind the scenery of a theater; out of the view of the audience, but in sight of the actors, machinery, etc.; hence, conversant with the hidden motives and agencies of what appears to public view.

Scene

Scene\, v. t. To exhibit as a scene; to make a scene of; to display. [Obs.] --Abp. Sancroft.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Language Translation for : scene
Spanish: escena,
German: der Schauplatz,
Japanese: 場面
More Translations »

scene 
1540, "subdivision of an act of a play," also "stage-setting," from M.Fr. scène (14c.), from L. scæna, scena "scene, stage," from Gk. skene "scene, stage," originally "tent or booth," related to skia "shadow, shade," via notion of "something that gives shade," from PIE base *ska(i)- "to shine, flicker, glimmer" (cf. Skt. chaya "brilliance, luster, shadow," Alb. he "shadow," Goth. skeinan, O.E. scinan "to shine"). Meaning "place in which the action of a literary work occurs" is attested from 1592; general sense (non-literary) is recorded from 1594. U.S. slang sense of "setting or milieu for a specific group or activity" is attested from 1951 in Beat jargon. Meaning "stormy encounter between two or more persons" is attested from 1761. Behind the scenes (1668) is an image from the theater, "amid actors and stage machinery" (where patrons are not admitted). Scene of the crime (1923) first attested in Agatha Christie.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Main Entry: scene
—see PRIMAL SCENE
Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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scene

see behind the scenes; make a scene; make the scene; on the scene; set the scene for.

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