picture

Universal Words noun, verb noun painting / drawing 1 [C] a painting or drawing, etc. that shows a scene, a person or a 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? 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. * From newspaper reports a picture emerges of a country barely under control. * The TV report painted a much rosier picture of the employment situation than research shows to be the case. 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 AmE) I believe her husband's in pictures (= he acts in movies or works in the industry). seealsoMOTIONPICTURE 8 (the pictures) [pl.] (old-fashioned, informal) the cinema/the movies: Shall we go to the pictures tonight? IDIOMS be / look a picture to look very beautiful or special: The garden looks a picture in the summer. be the picture of health / guilt / misery, etc. (informal) to look extremely healthy, guilty, etc. get the picture (spoken) to understand a situation, especially one that sb is describing to you: 'I pretended that I hadn't heard.' 'I get the picture.' in / out of the picture (informal) involved/not involved in a situation: Morris is likely to win, with Jones out of the picture now. put / keep sb in the picture (informal) to give sb the information they need in order to understand a situation: Just to put you in the picture-there have been a number of changes here recently. moreatBIGadj., PAINTv., PRETTYadj. verb imagine 1 ~ 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. * [Vwh-] I tried to picture what it would be like to live alone. describe 2 [VN] [oftenpassive] ~ sb/sth as sth to describe or present sb/sth in a particular way SYNPORTRAY: Before the trial Liz had been pictured as a frail woman dominated by her husband. show in photograph 3 [usuallypassive] 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]