de ‧ scrip ‧ tion S2 W2 /dɪˈskrɪpʃ ə n/ BrE AmE noun [uncountable and countable]
[ Word Family: adjective : describable ≠ ↑ indescribable , ↑ nondescript , ↑ descriptive ; verb : ↑ describe ; noun : ↑ description ; adverb : ↑ descriptively ]
1 . a piece of writing or speech that gives details about what someone or something is like
description of
an accurate description of the event
The booklet gives a brief description of each place.
Berlin sounds fascinating from your description.
⇨ ↑ job description
2 . be beyond/past description to be too good, bad, big etc to be described easily:
The death and destruction were beyond description.
3 . of every/some/any etc description ( also of all descriptions ) people or things of every type, some type etc:
People of all descriptions came to see the show.
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COLLOCATIONS
■ verbs
▪ give (somebody) a description
She was unable to give the police a description of her attacker.
▪ provide a description formal
The diary provides a clear description of farming life in the 1850s.
▪ issue a description (=formally give a description of someone to the public)
Police have issued a description of the two men they are looking for.
▪ fit/match a description (=be like the person in a police description)
The first man they arrested did not fit the description given by the victim.
▪ somebody answering a description (=a person who looks like someone in a police description)
A young girl answering this description has been seen in Spain.
■ adjectives
▪ good
Her descriptions of the natural world are very good.
▪ clear
He gave us a clear description of the situation in the city.
▪ detailed
Some of his descriptions of the island are very detailed.
▪ accurate
I don't think the hotel's description of its facilities was very accurate.
▪ vivid (=very clear and interesting)
The book contains some vivid descriptions of his childhood.
▪ perfect
We have a perfect description of the man we are looking for.
▪ a full description formal (=detailed)
Please give a full description of your responsibilities in your present job.
▪ a long/lengthy description
I didn't want to hear a lengthy description of their holiday.
▪ a brief/short description
There's only a brief description of the hotel on the Internet.
▪ a general description (=not detailed)
He started by giving us a general description of the manufacturing process.
▪ a graphic description (=very clear and containing a lot of details, usually about something unpleasant)
The book has some graphic descriptions of life in the prison camp.
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THESAURUS
▪ account a written or spoken description that says what happens in an event or process:
He provided the police with a detailed account of what he saw.
▪ description something you say or write that gives details about what something or someone is like:
The report gave a brief description of the problem.
▪ story an account of something that has happened which may not be true – used especially when people are telling each other about something:
I don’t think he was honest enough to tell us the full story.
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Her parents did not believe her story.
▪ report a written or spoken account of a situation or event, giving people the information they need, especially after studying something as part of your job:
The UN will issue a report on the incident.
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Initial police reports suggest she was murdered.
▪ version a particular person’s account of an event, which is different from the account that another person gives:
Her version of events has been contradicted by other witnesses.