DELINEATE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does delineate mean? 

• DELINEATE (adjective)
  The adjective DELINEATE has 1 sense:

1. represented accurately or precisely

  Familiarity information: DELINEATE used as an adjective is very rare.

• DELINEATE (verb)
  The verb DELINEATE has 5 senses:

1. show the form or outline of

2. determine the essential quality of

3. trace the shape of

4. make a mark or lines on a surface

5. describe in vivid detail

  Familiarity information: DELINEATE used as a verb is common.

 Dictionary entry details 

• DELINEATE (adjective)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Represented accurately or precisely

Synonyms:

delineate; delineated; represented

Similar:

depicted; pictured; portrayed (represented graphically by sketch or design or lines)

described (represented in words especially with sharpness and detail)

diagrammatic; diagrammatical (shown or represented by diagrams)

• DELINEATE (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they delineate    ... he / she / it delineates   
Past simple: delineated   
Past participle: delineated   
-ing form: delineating   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Show the form or outline of

Classified under:

Verbs of being, having, spatial relations

Synonyms:

define; delineate

Context example:

The camera could define the smallest object

Hypernyms (to "delineate" is one way to...):

show (make visible or noticeable)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s something

Derivation:

delineation (representation by drawing or painting etc)

delineation (a drawing of the outlines of forms or objects)

delineative (depicted in a recognizable manner)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Determine the essential quality of

Classified under:

Verbs of being, having, spatial relations

Synonyms:

define; delimit; delimitate; delineate; specify

Hypernyms (to "delineate" is one way to...):

be (have the quality of being; (copula, used with an adjective or a predicate noun))

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "delineate"):

determine (fix in scope; fix the boundaries of)

redefine (give a new or different definition to)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s something

Derivation:

delineation (a graphic or vivid verbal description)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Trace the shape of

Classified under:

Verbs of sewing, baking, painting, performing

Synonyms:

delineate; limn; outline

Hypernyms (to "delineate" is one way to...):

draw (represent by making a drawing of, as with a pencil, chalk, etc. on a surface)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "delineate"):

lipstick (form by tracing with lipstick)

contour (form the contours of)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

delineation (representation by drawing or painting etc)

delineation (a drawing of the outlines of forms or objects)

delineative (depicted in a recognizable manner)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Make a mark or lines on a surface

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Synonyms:

delineate; describe; draw; line; trace

Context example:

trace the outline of a figure in the sand

Hypernyms (to "delineate" is one way to...):

mark (make or leave a mark on)

Verb group:

draw (engage in drawing)

draw (represent by making a drawing of, as with a pencil, chalk, etc. on a surface)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "delineate"):

construct (draw with suitable instruments and under specified conditions)

inscribe (draw within a figure so as to touch in as many places as possible)

circumscribe (draw a line around)

circumscribe (to draw a geometric figure around another figure so that the two are in contact but do not intersect)

write (mark or trace on a surface)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something
Somebody ----s something PP

Derivation:

delineation (representation by drawing or painting etc)

delineation (a drawing of the outlines of forms or objects)

Sense 5

Meaning:

Describe in vivid detail

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Hypernyms (to "delineate" is one way to...):

depict; describe; draw (give a description of)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Derivation:

delineation (a graphic or vivid verbal description)

 Context examples 

Well delineated demarcation and absence of lepidic growth are considered by some as indicators of a benign character.

(Adenoma of the Mouse Pulmonary System, NCI Thesaurus/MMHCC)

Delineate the molecular and cellular mechanisms of establishment and systemic spread of infection and their impact on disease progression.

(Biology of HIV Infection, NCI Thesaurus)

Delineate the mechanisms of transmission and population spread of infection and their impact on disease progression.

(Biology of HIV Transmission, NCI Thesaurus)

Diatrizoate sodium blocks X-rays, thereby allowing body structures containing iodine to be delineated in contrast to those structures that do not contain iodine and allowing visualization of these areas.

(Diatrizoate Sodium, NCI Thesaurus)

A stretchable connective tissue membrane that is the outermost component of the tunica intima, delineating the border between the tunica media and the tunica intima.

(Internal Elastic Membrane, NCI Thesaurus)

In a series of experiments, the team delineated interactions between various forms of viral GP and three of the newly isolated bNAbs.

(Broadly acting antibodies found in plasma of Ebola survivors, National Institutes of Health)

How can I describe my emotions at this catastrophe, or how delineate the wretch whom with such infinite pains and care I had endeavoured to form?

(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)

It was all general approbation and smoothness; nothing delineated or distinguished.

(Emma, by Jane Austen)

Your words have delineated very prettily a graceful Apollo: he is present to your imagination,—tall, fair, blue- eyed, and with a Grecian profile.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

Postmarketing (Phase 4) studies to delineate additional information about the drug's risks, benefits, and optimal use that may be requested by regulatory authorities in conjunction with marketing approval.

(phase IV trial, NCI Thesaurus/CDISC)