act / speak for sb
1 [VN] [oftenpassive] to be a member of a group of people and act or speak on their behalf at an event, a meeting, etc:
The competition attracted over 500 contestants representing 8 different countries. * Local businesses are well represented on the committee (= there are a lot of people from them on the committee). * The opening speech was by Bob Alan representing Amnesty International. * The President was represented at the ceremony by the Vice-President.
2 [VN] to act or speak officially for sb and defend their interests:
The union represents over 200000 teachers. * The association was formed to represent the interests of women artists. * Ms Dale is representing the defendant (= is his / her lawyer) in the case. * As an MP, it is my duty to represent my constituents.
be equal to
3 linking verb [V-N] (not used in the progressive tenses) to be sth
SYNCONSTITUTE:
This contract represents 20% of the company's annual revenue. * This decision represents a significant departure from previous policy. * He got rid of anyone who represented a challenge to his authority. * The peace plan represents (= is the result of) weeks of negotiation. * These results represent a major breakthrough in Aids research.
be example of
4 [VN] [nopassive] to be an example or expression of sth:
a project representing all that is good in the community * Those comments do not represent the views of us all.
be symbol
5 [VN] (not used in the progressive tenses) to be a symbol of sth
SYNSYMBOLIZE:
Each colour on the chart represents a different department. * Wind direction is represented by arrows. * The artist uses doves to represent peace.
in picture
6 ~ sb/sth (as sb/sth) to show sb/sth, especially in a picture
SYNDEPICT:
[VN] The carvings represent a hunting scene. * The Egyptian goddess is represented as a woman with cow's horns. * The map represents Italy in the 12th century. * The results are represented in fig.3 below. [also VN-ing]
describe
7 [VN] ~ sb (as sth) (formal) to present or describe sb/sth in a particular way, especially when this may not be fair:
The king is represented as a villain in the play. * The risks were represented as negligible.
make formal statement
8 ~ sth (to sb) (formal) to make a formal statement to sb in authority to make your opinions known or to protest:
[VN] They represented their concerns to the authorities. [also Vthat]
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About this entry
This is a English–English dictionary entry.
Sourced from Main Dictionary in Lughet's collection.
This word also appears under other sources in Lughet's collection — see the list below.
Where does this definition of represent come from?
This entry for represent is sourced from Main Dictionary, one of the dictionaries and corpora merged into Lughet.
Is represent a noun, verb, or something else?
In this entry, represent is tagged as verb.
Does represent appear elsewhere on Lughet?
Yes — represent appears under other sources or language pairs in Lughet's collection. See the list below.
What is Lughet?
Lughet is a free trilingual dictionary covering nearly five million entries across Uyghur, Chinese, and English, drawn from more than ten source dictionaries and corpora.
