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cartoon

[kahr-toon]
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noun
  1. a sketch or drawing, usually humorous, as in a newspaper or periodical, symbolizing, satirizing, or caricaturing some action, subject, or person of popular interest.
  2. comic strip.
  3. animated cartoon.
  4. Fine Arts. a full-scale design for a picture, ornamental motif or pattern, or the like, to be transferred to a fresco, tapestry, etc.
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adjective
  1. resembling a cartoon or caricature: The novel is full of predictable, cartoon characters, never believable as real people.
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verb (used with object)
  1. to represent by a cartoon.
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verb (used without object)
  1. to draw cartoons.
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Origin of cartoon

1665–75; < Italian cartone pasteboard, stout paper, a drawing on such paper, equivalent to cart(a) paper (see carte) + -one augmentative suffix
Related formscar·toon·ish, adjectivecar·toon·ist, nounun·car·tooned, adjective
Can be confusedburlesque caricature cartoon parody satire (see synonym study at burlesque) (see synonym study at satire)carton cartoon
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for cartooning

Contemporary Examples

Historical Examples

  • With which Molly Brandeis unconsciously defined the art of cartooning.

    Fanny Herself

    Edna Ferber

  • I don't know if you and she ever spoke seriously of this little trick of drawing, or cartooning, or whatever it is you have.

    Fanny Herself

    Edna Ferber

  • I didn't suppose that basking in reflected glory made one a subject for cartooning; if it does, we'll all pose together.

    The Vision of Elijah Berl

    Frank Lewis Nason

British Dictionary definitions for cartooning

cartoon

noun
  1. a humorous or satirical drawing, esp one in a newspaper or magazine, concerning a topical event
  2. Also called: comic strip a sequence of drawings in a newspaper, magazine, etc, relating a comic or adventurous situation
  3. See animated cartoon
  4. a full-size preparatory sketch for a fresco, tapestry, mosaic, etc, from which the final work is traced or copied
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Derived Formscartoonist, noun

Word Origin

C17: from Italian cartone pasteboard, sketch on stiff paper; see carton
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for cartooning

cartoon

v.

1864 (implied in cartooned), from cartoon (n.). Related: Cartooning.

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cartoon

n.

1670s, "a drawing on strong paper (used as a model for another work)," from French carton, from Italian cartone "strong, heavy paper, pasteboard," thus "preliminary sketches made by artists on such paper" (see carton). Extension to comical drawings in newspapers and magazines is 1843.

Punch has the benevolence to announce, that in an early number of his ensuing Volume he will astonish the Parliamentary Committee by the publication of several exquisite designs, to be called Punch's Cartoons! ["Punch," June 24, 1843]

Also see -oon.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper