clip art

noun

1. drawings or illustrations available, as in a book, on a CD-ROM, or in an online gallery, for easy insertion into other material.

clip art

noun

1. a large collection of simple drawings stored in a computer from which items can be selected for incorporation into documents

Word History and Origins

Origin of clip art¹

First recorded in 1955–60; so called because the original clip art was clipped or cut out from a printed page, usually in books of illustrations specifically designed for this purpose.

Example Sentences

Both artists take banal, electronic clip art and render it curiously unsettling.

From Washington Post