describe
verbUK [dɪˈskɹaɪ̯b] · US [dɪˈskɹaɪ̯b]
Etymology From Middle English descriven, from Old French descrivre, from Latin dēscrībō (“to copy off, transcribe, sketch off, describe in painting or writing”), from dē (“off”) + scrībō (“write”); see scribe and shrive. Displaced native Old English āmearcian.
1
To represent in words.
- The feeling is difficult to describe, but not unpleasant.
- The geographer describes countries and cities.
4 more examples
- Several witnesses describe seeing lights in the sky that night.
- Between 8 and 9 p.m., the recorder at a meteorological station at Harrow, Middlesex, picked up 1,470 lightning flashes within a radius of 10 to 15 miles, and observers at the station described the storm as "probably one of the most spectacular of the century."1958 November 23, “Storm Damage in the Home Counties”, in Railway Magazine, page 746:
- […]his lordship was out of humour. That was the way Chollacombe described as knaggy an old gager as ever Charles had had the ill-fortune to serve. Stiff-rumped, that's what he was, always rubbing the rust, or riding grub, like he had been for months past.1959, Georgette Heyer, chapter 1, in The Unknown Ajax:
- Yet the truth is that City would probably have been coasting by that point if the referee, Michael Oliver, had not turned down three separate penalties, at least two of which could be accurately described as certainties.2014 November 2, Daniel Taylor, “Sergio Agüero strike wins derby for Manchester City against 10-man United”, in The Guardian:
2
To represent by drawing; to draw a plan of; to delineate; to trace or mark out.
- to describe a circle by the compasses; a torch waved about the head in such a way as to describe a circle
- Uncas described an arc in the water with his own blade, and as the canoe passed swiftly on, Chingachgook recovered his paddle, and flourishing it on high, he gave the war-whoop of the Mohicans.1826, James Fenimore Cooper, The Last of the Mohicans:
1 more example
- His body was contracted and bent towards them, and described an undulatory movement like that of a worm writhing.1906, James George Frazer, Adonis, Attis, Osiris, volume 2, page 146:
3
Mathematics, Sciences To give rise to a geometrical structure.
- The function describes a very complex surface.
4
Biology, Natural sciences, Taxonomy To introduce a new taxon to science by explaining its characteristics and particularly how it differs from other taxa.
- The fungus was first described by a botanist.
5
Obsolete To distribute into parts, groups, or classes; to mark off; to class.
- Passed through the land, and described it by cities into seven parts in a book.1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Joshua 18:9:
- Synonyms
- portray, betell, depict, report, bewrite, delineate, describe, draw, chronicle, explain, narrate, recount, relate, represent, set forth, state
- Antonyms
- burlesque, caricature, distort, exaggerate, misrepresent
- Derived terms
- abovedescribed, aforedescribed, describability, describee, describer, misdescribe, overdescribe, predescribe, redescribe
- Related terms
- describable, description, descriptive, descriptivism, descriptivist, descriptor, scribe
- Hyponyms
- recapitulate, run over, sum up, summarize