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• frame
  frame

  noun

  a border or case for enclosing a picture, mirror, etc.
• Frame
  Frame

  noun

  Janet . 1924–2004, and New Zealand writer: author of the novels Owls Do Cry (1957) and Faces in the Water (1961), the collection of verse The Pocket (1967), and volumes of autobiography including An Angel at My Table (1984), which was made into a film in 1990

frame

American  

[freym] / freɪm /

noun

• frames
  plural

1. a border or case for enclosing a picture, mirror, etc.

2. a rigid structure formed of relatively slender pieces, joined so as to surround sizable empty spaces or nonstructural panels, and generally used as a major support in building or engineering works, machinery, furniture, etc.

3. a body, especially a human body, with reference to its size or build; physique.

   He has a large frame.

4. a structure for admitting or enclosing something.

   a window frame.

5. (used with a plural verb) Usually frames. the framework for a pair of eyeglasses.

6. form, constitution, or structure in general; system; order.

7. Movies. one of the successive pictures on a strip of film.

8. Television. a single traversal by the electron beam of all the scanning lines on a television screen. In the U.S. this is a total of 525 lines traversed in 1/30 (0.033) second.

9. Computers. the information or image on a screen or monitor at any one time.

10. Bowling.

    1. one of the ten divisions of a game.

    2. one of the squares on the scorecard, in which the score for a given frame is recorded.

11. Pool. rack.

12. Baseball. an inning.

13. Slang. a frame-up.

14. enclosing lines, usually forming a square or rectangle, to set off printed matter in a newspaper, magazine, or the like; a box.

15. the structural unit that supports the chassis of an automobile.

16. Nautical.

    1. any of a number of transverse, riblike members for supporting and stiffening the shell of each side of a hull.

    2. any of a number of longitudinal members running between web frames to support and stiffen the shell plating of a metal hull.

17. a machine or part of a machine supported by a framework, especially as used in textile production: spinning frame.

    drawing frame;

    spinning frame.

18. Printing. the workbench of a compositor, consisting of a cabinet, cupboards, bins, and drawers, and having flat and sloping work surfaces on top.

19. Bookbinding. an ornamental border, similar to a picture frame, stamped on the front cover of some books.

20. Shipbuilding. in frame, (of a hull) with all frames erected and ready for planking or plating.

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verb (used with object)

• frames,
  present (3rd person singular)
• framed,
  past participle,  past
• framing
  present participle

1. to form or make, as by fitting and uniting parts together; construct.

2. to contrive, devise, or compose, as a plan, law, or poem.

   to frame a new constitution.

3. to conceive or imagine, as an idea.

4. Informal. to incriminate (an innocent person) through the use of false evidence, information, etc.

5. to provide with or put into a frame, as a picture.

6. to give utterance to.

   Astonished, I attempted to frame adequate words of protest.

7. to form or seem to form (speech) with the lips, as if enunciating carefully.

8. to fashion or shape.

   to frame a bust from marble.

9. to shape or adapt to a particular purpose.

   to frame a reading list for ninth graders.

10. Informal. to contrive or prearrange fraudulently or falsely, as in a scheme or contest.

11. to adjust (film) in a motion-picture projector so as to secure exact correspondence of the outlines of the frame and aperture.

12. to line up visually in a viewfinder or sight.

13. Archaic. to direct, as one's steps.

verb (used without object)

• frames,
  present (3rd person singular)
• framed,
  past participle,  past
• framing
  present participle

1. Archaic. to betake oneself; resort.

2. Archaic. to prepare, attempt, give promise, or manage to do something.

idioms

1. frame of mind. see frame of mind.

frame ¹ British  

/ freɪm /

noun

1. an open structure that gives shape and support to something, such as the transverse stiffening ribs of a ship's hull or an aircraft's fuselage or the skeletal beams and uprights of a building

2. an enclosing case or border into which something is fitted

   the frame of a picture

3. the system around which something is built up

   the frame of government

4. the structure of the human body

5. a condition; state (esp in the phrase frame of mind )

6. 1. one of a series of individual exposures on a strip of film used in making motion pictures

   2. an individual exposure on a film used in still photography

   3. an individual picture in a comic strip

7. 1. a television picture scanned by one or more electron beams at a particular frequency

   2. the area of the picture so formed

8. billiards snooker

   1. the wooden triangle used to set up the balls

   2. the balls when set up

   3. US and Canadian equivalent (for senses 8a, 8b): rack.  a single game finished when all the balls have been potted

9. computing (on a website) a self-contained section that functions independently from other parts; by using frames, a website designer can make some areas of a website remain constant while others change according to the choices made by the internet user

10. short for cold frame

11. one of the sections of which a beehive is composed, esp one designed to hold a honeycomb

12. a machine or part of a machine over which yarn is stretched in the production of textiles

13. (in language teaching, etc) a syntactic construction with a gap in it, used for assigning words to syntactic classes by seeing which words may fill the gap

14. statistics an enumeration of a population for the purposes of sampling, esp as the basis of a stratified sample

15. (in telecommunications, computers, etc) one cycle of a regularly recurring number of pulses in a pulse train

16. slang another word for frame-up

17. obsolete shape; form

18. likely to be awarded or to achieve

    I'm in the frame for the top job

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verb

1. to construct by fitting parts together

2. to draw up the plans or basic details for; outline

   to frame a policy

3. to compose, contrive, or conceive

   to frame a reply

4. to provide, support, or enclose with a frame

   to frame a picture

5. to form (words) with the lips, esp silently

6. slang to conspire to incriminate (someone) on a false charge

7. slang to contrive the dishonest outcome of (a contest, match, etc); rig

8. dialect (intr)

   1. (usually imperative or dependent imperative) to make an effort

   2. to have ability

Frame ² British  

/ freɪm /

noun

1. Janet . 1924–2004, and New Zealand writer: author of the novels Owls Do Cry (1957) and Faces in the Water (1961), the collection of verse The Pocket (1967), and volumes of autobiography including An Angel at My Table (1984), which was made into a film in 1990

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• framableness
  noun
• frameableness
  noun
• framer
  noun
• subframe
  noun
• unframableness
  noun
• unframeableness
  noun
• misframe
  verb
• deframe
  verb (used with object)
• reframe
  verb (used with object)
• framable
  adjective
• frameable
  adjective
• frameless
  adjective
• unframable
  adjective
• unframeable
  adjective
• unframed
  adjective
• well-framed
  adjective
• unframably
  adverb
• unframeably
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• frames
  plural

Participles

• framing
  present
• framed
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• frame
  simple
• frames
  simple
• have framed
  perfect
• has framed
  perfect
• am framing
  progressive
• are framing
  progressive
• is framing
  progressive
• have been framing
  perfect progressive
• has been framing
  perfect progressive

Past

• framed
  simple
• had framed
  perfect
• was framing
  progressive
• were framing
  progressive
• had been framing
  perfect progressive

Future

• will frame
  simple
• will have framed
  perfect
• will be framing
  progressive
• will have been framing
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of frame

First recorded before 1000; 1910–15 frame for def. 7; 1920–25 frame for def. 24; (verb) Middle English framen “to prepare (timber),” Old English framian “to avail, profit”; cognate with Old Norse frama “to further,” Old High German (gi)framōn “to do”; (noun) Middle English, derivative of the verb

Explanation

A frame is a basic shape or structure, especially one that outlines or surrounds a door or window. If you slam your bedroom door hard enough, the whole frame might shake. When frame is a noun, it is usually some kind of enclosure or outline that is also a physical support — like the frame around a window, a bed frame, or a picture frame. One frozen image, or still, from a movie is another kind of frame. As a verb, to frame means both to enclose something in a frame, the way you frame a painting, and to make it look like an innocent person is guilty of something.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

frame Frame frames framed framing

Constitution mandates that states deliver fugitives upon proper demand—though it does not provide a time frame for a response—the judge’s hands were tied.

From Slate ● Aug. 28, 2026

Unable to afford a bed frame, he says he slept on a mattress on the floor of his council flat and felt a deep sense of abandonment and isolation.

From BBC ● Aug. 25, 2026

The latter typically only makes sense if you plan on paying off the loan within a short time frame.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 24, 2026

A frame exists within a frame, both foursquare and askew, as the great outdoors is experienced from the vantage of the safe indoors.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 24, 2026

I think about my soft bed and its low wooden frame, exactly the same as those around it.

From "The Wrong Way Home" by Kate O’Shaughnessy

Aztec Camera were formed in East Kilbride in 1980 by Roddy Frame and drummer David Mulholland.

From BBC ● Jul. 15, 2026

AI can be excellent "for visualising the voices of minorities who have struggled to cross the threshold of mainstream media", said the creator, who asked to use the pseudonym Tender Frame.

From Barron's ● Jun. 30, 2026

“You want that perfect candidate. You want that like, yes, this is the person,” said Sean Frame, a school labor organizer from Sacramento who is running for state Senate.

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 22, 2026

Frame your answers like a story, West suggested.

From MarketWatch ● Jan. 23, 2026

She looked at my mother and said, “There’s a union meeting next Wednesday at the church on Frame Street.”

From "Kira-Kira" by Cynthia Kadohata

The definitions appear below the frames, reminding us that the men were not just shot with a firearm but also by a camera, shot being shot.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 25, 2026

The film frames their lapses in rigor as the joys of being a teenager, rather than imperfections — or worse, weakness in the pursuit of glory.

From Salon ● Aug. 18, 2026

“I’ve paused and zoomed in on so many frames with this area of his hand exposed and don’t see the tattoos.”

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 18, 2026

It says you can recycle the cardboard frames so long as you separate them from the lenses, which are harder to recycle.

From BBC ● Aug. 13, 2026

Daoud put the vase back and collected his frames.

From "City of the Plague God" by Sarwat Chadda

Cabaldon framed the bills as ones about statewide educational and career options.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 1, 2026

Washington has framed its host year around limiting regulatory burdens and promoting new technologies.

From Barron's ● Sep. 1, 2026

But a lenient countermessage framed as female autonomy is no better.

From Slate ● Aug. 27, 2026

The department framed its move as driven by “a desire to provide greater liquidity support,” but the step has been widely viewed as a push to stop yields from surging.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 20, 2026

Or had he seen the framed “Bye Forever” post above my desk?

From "Bye Forever, I Guess" by Jodi Meadows

A bird’s-eye shot of spike heel-clad feet framing an esoteric dress acquisition, a styling clip attached to soft fabric sitting lightly and low-rise, a dress-up session framed by whitewashed wood with the perfect patina.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 2, 2026

That framing puts considerable weight on the label the government has chosen for the policy.

From Slate ● Sep. 1, 2026

It’s a lesson in framing: Own operational hiccups directly while projecting steady authority.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 20, 2026

Former AFL Women's star Kate McCarthy was among those who challenged that framing, noting: "Players don't simply 'find themselves in situations'."

From Barron's ● Aug. 20, 2026

“The Last Custodian,” said Kojo, framing the words dramatically in the air.

From "The Smartest Kid in the Universe" by Chris Grabenstein

Related Words

• concoct
• devise
• draw up
• formulate
• outline
• prepare
• shape
• sketch