sketch

[skech]

noun

a simply or hastily executed drawing or painting, especially a preliminary one, giving the essential features without the details.
a rough design, plan, or draft, as of a book.
a brief or hasty outline of facts, occurrences, etc.: a sketch of his life.

a short, usually descriptive, essay, history, or story.
a short play or slight dramatic performance, as one forming part of a vaudeville program.

verb (used with object)

to make a sketch of.
to set forth in a brief or general account: He sketched his own part in the affair.
Metallurgy. (in a steel mill or the like) to mark (a piece) for cutting.

verb (used without object)

to make a sketch or sketches.

Origin of sketch

1660–70; < Dutch schets (noun) ≪ Italian schizzo < Latin schedium extemporaneous poem, noun use of neuter of schedius extempore < Greek schédios

Related formssketch·er, nounsketch·ing·ly, adverbsketch·like, adjectivere·sketch, verb (used with object)un·sketched, adjectivewell-sketched, adjective

Synonyms for sketch

2. outline. 5. skit, act, routine. 6. draw, outline, design, rough out, delineate, represent.

Synonym study

6. See depict.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for sketching

blueprint, picture, account, copy, likeness, description, chart, vignette, summary, depiction, version, illustration, portrayal, piece, painting, cartoon, delineate, portray, depict, paint

Examples from the Web for sketching

Contemporary Examples of sketching

However, on other issues, she still was sketching out her positions.
Meet Montana's Nose-Ringed Candidate for the U.S. Senate
Ben Jacobs
August 15, 2014
The designer, who is often considered one of the last great couturiers, jokes that he could have kept on sketching forever.
Christian Lacroix’s Couture Collection for Schiaparelli
Alice Cavanagh
July 1, 2013
On the first two, look for tone: is Obama preparing for a streetfight, or sketching the outlines of a deal?
What to Look for In Tonight's State of the Union
Megan McArdle
February 12, 2013
A TV pilot for HBO, and a book of stories that I'm just now sketching out.
How I Write: ‘The Tragedy of Arthur’ by Arthur Phillips
Noah Charney
August 22, 2012
There are now so many demands on a designer that have nothing to do with sketching and draping.
Paris Fall Fashion Week Ends With Vuitton and Kanye
Robin Givhan
March 7, 2012

Historical Examples of sketching

Betty fumbled with her sketching things as a sort of guarantee of good faith.
The Incomplete Amorist
E. Nesbit
Meanwhile, he went on sketching her face, studying it with care.
His Masterpiece
Emile Zola
Over the keys her fingers moved, sketching a melody, passing from it into another.
The Paliser case
Edgar Saltus
When he was not sketching, he was playing chess with the Captain.
The Confessions of a Caricaturist, Vol 2 (of 2)
Harry Furniss
Lessons should be given in sketching, painting, drawing, and casting.
The Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, 1995, Memorial Issue
Various

British Dictionary definitions for sketching

sketch

noun

a rapid drawing or painting, often a study for subsequent elaboration
a brief usually descriptive and informal essay or other literary composition
a short play, often comic, forming part of a revue
a short evocative piece of instrumental music, esp for piano
any brief outline

verb

to make a rough drawing (of)
(tr often foll by out) to make a brief description of

Derived Formssketchable, adjectivesketcher, noun

Word Origin for sketch

C17: from Dutch schets, via Italian from Latin schedius hastily made, from Greek skhedios unprepared

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 sketching

sketch

"rough drawing intended to serve as the basis for a finished picture," 1660s, from Dutch schets or Low German skizze, both apparently 17c. artists' borrowings from Italian schizzo "sketch, drawing," which is commonly said to be from Latin *schedius (OED compares schedia "raft," schedium "an extemporaneous poem"), from or related to Greek skhedios "temporary, extemporaneous, done or made off-hand," related to skhema "form, shape, appearance" (see scheme (n.)). But according to Barnhart Italian schizzo is a special use of schizzo "a splash, squirt," from schizzare "to splash or squirt," of uncertain origin.

Extended sense of "brief account" is from 1660s; meaning "short play or performance, usually comic" is from 1789. Sketch-book recorded from 1820. German Skizze, French esquisse, Spanish esquicio are likewise from Italian schizzo.

sketch

1690s, "present the essential facts of," from sketch (n.). Meaning "draw, portray in outline and partial shading" is from 1725. Related: Sketched; sketcher; sketching.