picture

I UK [ˈpɪktʃə(r)] / US [ˈpɪktʃər] noun
Word forms "picture":
singular picture plural pictures
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Talking or writing about pictures:

painting a picture that is made using paints drawing a picture that is made using a pen or pencils sketch a picture that you create quickly, often in preparation for a more detailed drawing or painting illustration a picture that appears in a book or magazine portrait a picture of a person photograph or photo a picture that is taken with a camera snapshot a photograph that is taken quickly, without someone paying much attention to detail print a picture that is made by copying an original picture many times

1) [countable] a drawing, painting, or photograph

I noticed a picture on the dining-room wall.

a children's book with bright colourful 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.

a) an image on a television, video, or computer screen

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

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.

2) [countable, usually singular] a description or idea of what someone or something is like

picture of:

My friends had a rather distorted picture of my life.

paint a picture (of something) (= give a description):

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

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Collocations:
Adjectives frequently used with picture
▪  accurate, bleak, clear, complete, confused, detailed, full, gloomy, moving, overall, vivid Verbs frequently used with picture as the object ▪  convey, create, give, paint, present, provide, show

3)

a) [countable] mainly American a film

It won the award for Best Picture.

b) the pictures

[plural] old-fashioned the cinema

4) [singular] a situation

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

The general picture was one of neglect and decline.

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be/look a picture — informal to look beautiful, interesting, or funny

You should have seen her face when she told him: it was an absolute picture!

the big/wider picture — a whole or complete situation, including all the things that it affects, not just one part of it

It's important we don't lose sight of the big picture when we make these decisions.

a/the picture of something — used for emphasizing a particular quality in someone's appearance

He was a picture of wide-eyed innocence.

- get the picture

- out of the picture

- put someone in the picture

II UK [ˈpɪktʃə(r)] / US [ˈpɪktʃər] verb [transitive]
Word forms "picture":
present tense I/you/we/they picture he/she/it pictures present participle picturing past tense pictured past participle pictured
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1) to imagine something

She smiled involuntarily as she pictured the scene.

Try to picture what life was like back in those days.

picture someone/yourself doing something:

I pictured myself lying in the sun, a cool drink in my hand.

picture someone/something as something:

It was hard to picture him as a responsible husband and father.

2) to show someone in a photograph, painting etc

She is pictured on the magazine's front cover, talking to the Queen.

Pictured above are some of the clothes from the new collection.