Adjacent Words

Describe definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

DESCRIBE, v.t. [L. To write.]
1. To delineate or mark the form or figure; as, to describe a circle by the compasses.
2. To make or exhibit a figure by motion; as, a star describes a circle or an ellipsis in the heavens.
3. To show or represent to others in words; to communicate the resemblance of a thing, by naming its nature, form or properties. The poet describes the Trojan horse. The historian describes the battle of Pharsalia. The moralist describes the effects of corrupt manners. The geographer describes countries and cities.
4. To represent by signs. A deaf and dumb man may describe a distant object. Our passions may be described by external motions.
5. To draw a plan; to represent by lines and other marks on paper, or other material; as, to describe the surface of the earth by a map or chart.
6. To define laxly.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

v
1: give a description of; "He drew an elaborate plan of attack" [syn: describe, depict, draw]
2: to give an account or representation of in words; "Discreet Italian police described it in a manner typically continental" [syn: report, describe, account]
3: make a mark or lines on a surface; "draw a line"; "trace the outline of a figure in the sand" [syn: trace, draw, line, describe, delineate]
4: identify as in botany or biology, for example [syn: identify, discover, key, key out, distinguish, describe, name]

Merriam Webster's

transitive verb (described; describing) Etymology: Middle English, from Latin describere, from de- + scribere to write — more at scribe Date: 15th century 1. to represent or give an account of in words <describe a picture> 2. to represent by a figure, model, or picture ; delineate 3. obsolete distribute 4. to trace or traverse the outline of <describe a circle> 5. archaic observe, perceive • describable adjective • describer noun

Oxford Reference Dictionary

v.tr. 1 a state the characteristics, appearance, etc. of, in spoken or written form (described the landscape). b (foll. by as) assert to be; call (described him as a habitual liar). 2 a mark out or draw (esp. a geometrical figure) (described a triangle). b move in (a specified way, esp. a curve) (described a parabola through the air). Derivatives: describable adj. describer n. Etymology: L describere (as DE-, scribere script- write)

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Describe De*scribe", v. t. [imp. & p. p. Described; p. pr. & vb. n. Describing.] [L. describere, descriptum; de- + scribere to write: cf. OE. descriven, OF. descrivre, F. d['e]crire. See Scribe, and cf. Descry.] 1. To represent by drawing; to draw a plan of; to delineate; to trace or mark out; as, to describe a circle by the compasses; a torch waved about the head in such a way as to describe a circle. 2. To represent by words written or spoken; to give an account of; to make known to others by words or signs; as, the geographer describes countries and cities. 3. To distribute into parts, groups, or classes; to mark off; to class. [Obs.] Passed through the land, and described it by cities into seven parts in a book. --Josh. xviii. 9. Syn: To set forth; represent; delineate; relate; recount; narrate; express; explain; depict; portray; chracterize.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Describe De*scribe", v. i. To use the faculty of describing; to give a description; as, Milton describes with uncommon force and beauty.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(describes, describing, described) Frequency: The word is one of the 700 most common words in English. 1. If you describe a person, object, event, or situation, you say what they are like or what happened. We asked her to describe what kind of things she did in her spare time... She read a poem by Carver which describes their life together... Just before his death he described seeing their son in a beautiful garden. VERB: V wh, V n, V -ing 2. If a person describes someone or something as a particular thing, he or she believes that they are that thing and says so. He described it as an extraordinarily tangled and complicated tale... Even his closest allies describe him as forceful, aggressive and determined... He described the meeting as marking a new stage in the peace process. VERB: V n as n, V n as adj, V n as -ing

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

de-skrib': This verb, now obsolete, in the sense used in Jos 18:4,6,8,9 and Jud 8:14, is a translation of kathabh, usually rendered "to write" or "inscribe." But in the above passages it has the Old English meaning of dividing into parts or into lots, as for example: "Walk through the land, and describe it according to their inheritance" (Jos 18:4); that is, describe in writing the location and size of the several parcels of land thus portioned out. In Jud 8:14 "described" should be translated "wrote down a list of." "Describe" occurs twice in the King James Version of the New Testament (Ro 4:6, 10:5), where lego, and grapho, are both rendered "describeth." the Revised Version (British and American) corrects both, and substitutes "pronounceth" in the first and "writeth" in the second passage.

Description = "list" (1 Esdras 5:39).

W. W. Davies

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

v. a. 1. Delineate, trace, draw, mark out. 2. Represent (by words), portray, depict, explain, recount, narrate, relate, give an account of, set forth. 3. Characterize, specify the peculiarities of, set forth the character of.

Moby Thesaurus

be characteristic, bring to life, character, characterize, chronicle, construe, define, delineate, demarcate, depict, detail, diagnose, differentiate, distinguish, draw, earmark, evoke, explain, express, give words to, identify, interpret, keynote, label, limn, mark, mark off, mark out, narrate, outline, paint, picture, portray, read, read into, recite, recount, relate, render, report, represent, retail, set apart, set forth, set the pace, set the tone, sketch, sound the keynote, specify, style, take, take it that, take to mean, trace, traverse, understand, understand by, write