de ‧ scribe S2 W1 /dɪˈskraɪb/ BrE AmE verb [transitive]
[ Word Family: adjective : describable ≠ ↑ indescribable , ↑ nondescript , ↑ descriptive ; verb : ↑ describe ; noun : ↑ description ; adverb : ↑ descriptively ]
[ Date: 1400-1500 ; Language: Latin ; Origin: describere , from scribere 'to write' ]
1 . to say what something or someone is like by giving details about them:
The police asked her to describe the man.
Another approach to the problem is described in Chapter 3.
describe somebody/something as (being/having) something
After the operation her condition was described as comfortable.
The youth is described as being 18 to 19 years old.
describe how/why/what etc
It’s difficult to describe how I feel.
describe somebody/something to somebody
So describe this new boyfriend to me!
describe doing something
He described finding his mother lying on the floor.
2 . describe a circle/an arc etc formal to make a movement which forms the shape of a circle etc:
Her hand described a circle in the air.
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THESAURUS
▪ describe to talk or write about a person, place, event etc, in order to show what they are like:
Could you try and describe the man you saw?
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In her book, she describes her journey across the Sahara.
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Police described the attack as particularly violent.
▪ tell somebody about somebody/something to describe someone or something to someone. This phrase is more commonly used than describe in everyday spoken English:
So, tell me about your holiday!
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My friends have told me all about you!
▪ depict formal to describe someone or something in a piece of writing:
His stories depict life in Trinidad as seen through the eyes of a young boy.
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In this new biography she is depicted as a lonely and unhappy woman.
▪ portray/represent formal to describe someone or something in a particular way:
College teachers are often represented on television shows as slightly eccentric.
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The magazine has been criticized for the way it portrays women.
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The treatment has been portrayed as a painless way of curing cancer, which is simply not true.
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Police have represented her as a willing participant in the crimes.
▪ characterize somebody/something as something formal to describe someone or something by emphasizing one particular quality or feature about them:
He characterized himself as ‘an average American’.
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The successful schools were characterized as innovative and creative.
▪ paint somebody/something as something to describe someone or something, especially in a way that makes people believe something that is not true:
Not all young people are as bad as they’re painted in the press.
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We won, yet the media is painting it as a victory for our opponents.
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The woman was painted as having only a slight grasp of reality.
▪ paint a picture to describe a situation, so that people can get a general idea of what it is like:
Can you paint a picture of life in Japan for us?
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My uncle’s letters generally painted a rosy picture of how things were.
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The report painted a bleak picture of the management’s failures.