picture

[ pik-cher ]

/ ˈpɪk tʃər /

Save This Word!

See synonyms for: picture / pictured / pictures / picturing on Thesaurus.com

Definition of picture

noun

a visual representation of a person, object, or scene, as a painting, drawing, photograph, etc.: I carry a picture of my grandchild in my wallet.

any visible image, however produced: pictures reflected in a pool of water.

a mental image: a clear picture of how he had looked that day.

a particular image or reality as portrayed in an account or description; depiction; version.

a tableau, as in theatrical representation.

a movie: He signed a three-picture deal to star in the new franchise.
pictures, Older Use. movies collectively, as an art; cinema: So, you want to be in pictures?

a person, thing, group, or scene regarded as resembling a work of pictorial art in beauty, fineness of appearance, etc.: She was a picture in her new blue dress.

the image or perfect likeness of someone else: He is the picture of his father.

a visible or concrete embodiment of some quality or condition: the picture of health.

a situation or set of circumstances: the economic picture.

the image on a computer monitor, the viewing screen of a television set, or a motion-picture screen.

verb (used with object), pic·tured, pic·tur·ing.

to represent in a picture or pictorially, as by painting or drawing.

to form a mental picture of; imagine: He couldn't picture himself doing such a thing.

to depict in words; describe graphically: He pictured Rome so vividly that you half-believed you were there.

to present or create as a setting; portray: His book pictured the world of the future.

OTHER WORDS FOR picture

12, 14 delineate, paint, draw, represent.

See synonyms for picture on Thesaurus.com

QUIZ

QUIZ YOURSELF ON “ITS” VS. “IT’S”!

Apostrophes can be tricky; prove you know the difference between "it’s" and "its" in this crafty quiz!

Question 1 of 8

On the farm, the feed for chicks is significantly different from the roosters’; ______ not even comparable.

it's

its

TAKE THE QUIZ TO FIND OUT

Origin of picture

First recorded in 1375–1425; late Middle English, from Latin pictūra “the act of painting, a painting,” equivalent to pict(us) (past participle of pingere “to paint” ) + -ūra noun suffix; see paint, -ure

OTHER WORDS FROM picture

pic·tur·a·ble, adjectivepic·tur·a·ble·ness, nounpic·tur·a·bly, adverbpic·tur·er, noun

mis·pic·ture, verb (used with object), mis·pic·tured, mis·pic·tur·ing.self-pic·tured, adjectiveun·pic·tured, adjective

WORDS THAT MAY BE CONFUSED WITH picture

picture , pitcher

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2022

How to use picture in a sentence

Affirm didn’t provide total share counts for the company, so it’s hard right now to get a full ownership picture.
If you didn’t make $1B this week, you are not doing VC right|Danny Crichton|November 20, 2020|TechCrunch
“There shall be no media, no publicity, and no pictures for this flight,” Ricky Smith, the Hogan-appointed executive director of BWI, told subordinates in an email before the shipment.
Hogan’s first batch of coronavirus tests from South Korea were flawed, never used|Steve Thompson|November 20, 2020|Washington Post
Like Howard Mehring before her, Pamela Keravuori makes nonrepresentational pictures that usually lack a central focus.
In the galleries: The Washington colorists and the CIA|Mark Jenkins|November 20, 2020|Washington Post
If you want more insight about the bigger picture of Bitcoin, please check out my book Kings of Crypto, which drops from Harvard Business Review Press on December 15.
The return of $20,000 Bitcoin: what’s different this time around|Jeff|November 18, 2020|Fortune

You need to know so, if you gave me a picture of, you know, here’s this cop hitting somebody with a baton I want to, and we’re going to figure out, you can see his face.
Citizens are turning face recognition on unidentified police|Tate Ryan-Mosley|November 18, 2020|MIT Technology Review
I doubt they are, but as a comedian, I find some comedy in picturing those two girls running the world as a power couple.
Kathy Griffin: I Would Never Have Dreamed of Outing Anderson Cooper|Kathy Griffin|July 3, 2012|DAILY BEAST
The same scale of destruction, and the same problem in picturing its true extent, holds true for West Virginia and Kentucky.
Chris Hedges and Joe Sacco Chronicle Mining Catastrophes in West Virginia|Chris Hedges, Joe Sacco|June 14, 2012|DAILY BEAST
Out of Africa is one of my favorite movies, and I had a grand time picturing him as Denys Finch Hatton flying high above Kenya.
Meet the Secret Powerbrokers of D.C.: Five Top Women in Communications|Abigail Pesta|January 18, 2012|DAILY BEAST
A few have the eye and the artistic impulse needed for picturing, roughly at least, the look of an object.
Children's Ways|James Sully
Like Miss Ware, he was picturing Jim solitary and suffering in his lonely cell.
The Calico Cat|Charles Miner Thompson
He grinned as he lay awake in the night, picturing to himself how the woman in the next room would take it.
There and Back|George MacDonald
He liked to think of these, picturing himself bravely cheerful through long periods of hunger, heat, or cold.
Hyacinth|George A. Birmingham
A roseate story like this should be followed, for contrast's sake, by one picturing the harder side.
The American Country Girl|Martha Foote Crow

British Dictionary definitions for picture

picture

/ (ˈpɪktʃə) /

noun

a visual representation of something, such as a person or scene, produced on a surface, as in a photograph, painting, etc
(as modifier)picture gallery; picture postcard Related adjective: pictorial

a mental image or impressiona clear picture of events

a verbal description, esp one that is vivid

a situation considered as an observable scenethe political picture

a person or thing that bears a close resemblance to anotherhe was the picture of his father

a person, scene, etc, considered as typifying a particular state or qualitythe picture of despair

a beautiful person or sceneyou'll look a picture

a complete image on a television screen, comprising two interlaced fields

a motion picture; film
(as modifier)picture theatre

the pictures mainly British and Australian a cinema or film show

another name for tableau vivant

get the picture informal to understand a situation

in the picture informed about a given situation

verb (tr)

to visualize or imagine

to describe or depict, esp vividly

(often passive) to put in a picture or make a picture ofthey were pictured sitting on the rocks

Word Origin for picture

C15: from Latin pictūra painting, from pingere to paint

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

Other Idioms and Phrases with picture

picture

In addition to the idiom beginning with picture

picture is worth a thousand words, one

also see:

get the message (picture)
in the picture
pretty as a picture
take a picture
the picture

picture

Definition of picture

OTHER WORDS FOR picture

Origin of picture

OTHER WORDS FROM picture

WORDS THAT MAY BE CONFUSED WITH picture

Words related to picture

How to use picture in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for picture

Word Origin for picture

Other Idioms and Phrases with picture