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Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary de·scribe (de·scribed ; de·scrib·ing) 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 • de·scrib·er noun English Etymology describe early 13c., descrive, from O.Fr . descrivre (13c.), from L.describere (see description). Reconstructed with Latin spelling 16c. Related: Described, describes, describing.http://O.Fr Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary-牛津双解-OALD7 ☞ describe de·scribe / di5skraib / verb1. ~ sb / sth (to / for sb) | ~ sb / sth (as sth) to say what sb / sth is like 描述；形容；把…称为: ▪ [VN] Can you describe him to me? 你能向我描述一下他的样子吗？ The man was described as tall and dark, and aged about 20. 据描述这男人高个子,深色皮肤,年龄在 20 岁左右。 Jim was described by his colleagues as 'unusual'. 吉姆被同事们称为"不寻常"的人。 ▪ [V wh-] Describe how you did it. 谈谈你是怎样做这事的。 ▪ [V -ing] Several people described seeing strange lights in the sky. 好几个人都说看到天上出现了奇异光芒。 ▪ [also VN -ing] 2. [VN] (formal or technical 术语) to make a movement which has a particular shape; to form a particular shape 做…运动；画出…图形；形成…形状: The shark described a circle around the shoal of fish. 这条鲨鱼围绕着鱼群游动。 • de·scrib·able adj. Oxford Collocations Dictionary for Students of English describe verb ADV. accurately, exactly, in detail Their daily lives are described in detail. | fully This process is fully described in section three of the book. | adequately | briefly He described briefly what happened. | vividly VERB + DESCRIBE cannot Words cannot describe our feelings at that moment. | be difficult to, be hard to, be impossible to | go on to He goes on to describe very vividly how Caesar was stabbed to death. Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Thesaurus-11th Edition v. Function: verb 1 Synonyms: RELATE 1, narrate, recite, recount, rehearse, report, state Related Words: communicate, impart; transmit; construe, elucidate, explain, explicate, expound; exemplify, illustrate; characterize, distinguish 2 Synonyms: REPRESENT 1, delineate, depict, image, interpret, limn, picture, portray, renderWebster's Third New International Dictionary, Unabridged de·scribe \də̇ˈskrīb, dēˈ-\ transitive verb (-ed/-ing/-s) Etymology: Latin describere, from de- + scribere to write — more at scribe 1. : to represent by words written or spoken for the knowledge or understanding of others: a. : to communicate verbally from the results of personal observation an account of salient identifying features of (something existing in space) < unable to find words to describe the mountain scene > < in 1886 a Boston surgeon … described the condition now called appendicitis — Morris Fishbein > specifically : to observe and narrate simultaneously with the action (as for radio or television) < describing a football game to an unseeing audience > b. : to transmit a mental image, an impression, or an understanding of the nature and characteristics of (something immaterial) : present distinctly by means of properties and qualities < the unique character of the artistic quality of a work … cannot be defined or even described — T.M.Greene > < there were so many things he wanted to describe — James Joyce > < like Mark Twain he exhibits rather than describes his characters: their speech is a portrait — Marvin Lowenthal > c. : to make clear by expounding especially in a minute way < had traveled in the principal countries of the world and described what it was like to live in a police state — Victor Boesen > < describe the life of the past from the various scraps of the fossil forms — W.E.Swinton > d. : to distinguish by a definitive label or other designation or by an individualizing phrase or similitude — used with as and a complement < few doctors would describe themselves as scientists > < the State is often rightly described as a machine: its total effect is inhuman — Herbert Read > e. : to convey an image or notion of : express , signify , denote < we have indicated that jealousy describes a state of tension among various interests of the personality — Abram Kardiner > < while the natural sciences grow more modest in admitting that their laws describe only probabilities — Reinhold Niebuhr > 2. obsolete : to write down : inscribe , transcribe 3. : to represent by a drawing, figure, model, or picture : portray , delineate < and when the curves thus brilliantly drawn describe vividly some object in life toward which we have pleasing associations we get a complex pleasure — Roger Fry > 4. : to mark out : trace or traverse the outline of < each planet describes an ellipse with the sun in one focus — S.F.Mason > < while he described a big smooth arc with the muleta — Barnaby Conrad > < butted amidships he described a somersault backward > 5. obsolete : to portion out : distribute < ye shall therefore describe the land into seven parts — Josh 18:6 (Authorized Version) > 6. archaic : to discover by observation : espy , perceive Synonyms: see relate |
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