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picture

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noun American English pronunciation: picture /ˈpɪktʃər/ 
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singularpicture
pluralpictures
 
  1. 1
    [countable] a drawing, painting, or photograph

    I noticed a picture on the dining room wall.

    a children's book with bright colorful pictures

    picture of:

    She showed me a picture of the house where she was born.

    a picture of a peaceful country scene

    draw/paint a picture:

    She asked children to draw pictures of their family.

    take a picture (=to use a camera to produce a photograph):

    I'll stand over here, and you can take the picture.

    Thesaurus entry for this meaning of picture
    1. a.
      an image on a television, video, or computer screen

      Some viewers are suffering from poor picture quality on all channels.

      Thesaurus entry for this meaning of picture
    2. b.
      an image in your mind

      I have such happy pictures in my mind of those times.

      a mental picture:

      She had a mental picture of Samuel's face.

      Thesaurus entry for this meaning of picture
  2. 2
    [singular] a situation

    The economic picture has changed a lot in the last couple of weeks.

    The general picture was one of neglect and decline.

    Thesaurus entry for this meaning of picture
  3. 3
    [countable] [usually singular] a description or idea of what someone or something is like
    paint a picture (of something) (=give a description):

    The report paints a rather gloomy picture of life in the inner cities.

    picture of:

    My friends had a very distorted picture of my life.

    Thesaurus entry for this meaning of picture
  4. 4
    [countable] a movie

    It won the award for Best Picture.

    Thesaurus entry for this meaning of picture
    1. a.

      the pictures

       [plural] old-fashioned the movies
      Thesaurus entry for this meaning of picture

phrases

This is the American English definition of picture. View British English definition of picture.

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View the pronunciation for picture.

 

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