/ ˈpɪktʃə(r); NAmE / noun , verb
■ noun
PAINTING / DRAWING
1.
[ C ] a painting or drawing, etc. that shows a scene, a person or thing :
A picture of flowers hung on the wall.
The children were drawing pictures of their pets.
She wanted a famous artist to paint her picture (= a picture of herself) .
a book with lots of pictures in it
PHOTOGRAPH
2.
[ C ] a photograph :
We had our picture taken in front of the hotel.
The picture shows the couple together on their yacht.
Have you got any pictures of your trip?
➡ note at photograph
ON TV
3.
[ C ] an image on a television screen :
harrowing television pictures of the famine
satellite pictures
The picture isn't very clear tonight.
DESCRIPTION
4.
[ C , usually sing. ] a description that gives you an idea in your mind of what sth is like :
The writer paints a gloomy picture of the economy.
The police are trying to build up a picture of what happened.
MENTAL IMAGE
5.
[ C , usually sing. ] a mental image or memory of sth :
I have a vivid picture of my grandfather smiling down at me when I was very small.
GENERAL SITUATION
6.
the picture [ sing. ] the general situation concerning sb/sth :
Just a few years ago the picture was very different.
The overall picture for farming is encouraging.
MOVIES
7.
[ C ] a film / movie :
The movie won nine Academy Awards, including Best Picture.
( especially NAmE )
I believe her husband's in pictures (= he acts in movies or works in the industry) .
—see also motion picture
8.
the pictures [ pl. ] ( old-fashioned , informal ) the cinema / the movies :
Shall we go to the pictures tonight?
•
IDIOMS
- be / look a picture
- be the picture of health / guilt / misery, etc.
- get the picture
- in / out of the picture
- put / keep sb in the picture
—more at big adjective , paint verb , pretty adjective
■ verb
IMAGINE
1.
picture sb (as sth) to imagine sb/sth; to create an image of sb/sth in your mind :
[ vn ]
I can still picture the house I grew up in.
We found it hard to picture him as the father of teenage sons.
[ vn -ing ]
When he did not come home she pictured him lying dead on the roadside somewhere.
[ v wh- ]
I tried to picture what it would be like to live alone.
➡ note at imagine
DESCRIBE
2.
[ vn ] [ often passive ] picture sb/sth as sth to describe or present sb/sth in a particular way
SYN portray :
Before the trial Liz had been pictured as a frail woman dominated by her husband.
SHOW IN PHOTOGRAPH
3.
[ usually passive ] to show sb/sth in a photograph or picture :
[ vn ]
She is pictured here with her parents.
[ vn -ing ]
The team is pictured setting off on their European tour.
[also vn - adj ]
••
SYNONYMS
picture
drawing ♦ painting ♦ portrait ♦ illustration ♦ sketch ♦ image
These are all words for a scene, person or thing that has been represented on paper by drawing, painting, etc.
picture
a scene, person or thing that has been represented on paper using a pencil, a pen or paint:
The children were drawing pictures of their pets.
drawing
a picture that has been made using a pencil or pen, not paint:
a pencil / charcoal drawing
painting
a picture that has been made using paint:
a collection of paintings by American artists
portrait
a painting, drawing or photograph of a person, especially of the head and shoulders:
Vermeer's 'Portrait of the artist in his studio'
•
a self-portrait (= a painting that you do of yourself)
illustration
a picture in a book or magazine, especially one that shows or explains sth:
See illustration on p.166.
sketch
a simple picture that is drawn quickly and does not have many details:
I usually do a few very rough sketches before I start on a painting.
image
a copy of sb/sth in the form of a picture or statue:
Images of deer and hunters decorate the cave walls.
picture or image?
An image can be a statue; a picture is always two-dimensional (= flat) . A picture can show a scene; an image is always of a person or thing. Image is more formal and much less frequent.
••
WORD ORIGIN
late Middle English : from Latin pictura , from pict- painted (from the verb pingere ).