DESCRIBE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does describe mean? 

• DESCRIBE (verb)
  The verb DESCRIBE has 4 senses:

1. give a description of

2. to give an account or representation of in words

3. make a mark or lines on a surface

4. identify as in botany or biology, for example

  Familiarity information: DESCRIBE used as a verb is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• DESCRIBE (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they describe    ... he / she / it describes   
Past simple: described   
Past participle: described   
-ing form: describing   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Give a description of

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Synonyms:

depict; describe; draw

Context example:

He drew an elaborate plan of attack

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

exposit; expound; set forth (state)

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

represent (describe or present, usually with respect to a particular quality)

delineate (describe in vivid detail)

adumbrate; outline; sketch (describe roughly or briefly or give the main points or summary of)

Sentence frames:

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

Derivation:

description (the act of describing something)

Sense 2

Meaning:

To give an account or representation of in words

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Synonyms:

account; describe; report

Context example:

Discreet Italian police described it in a manner typically continental

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

inform (impart knowledge of some fact, state of affairs, or event to)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s something
Somebody ----s something to somebody
Somebody ----s PP
Somebody ----s that CLAUSE

Derivation:

description (the act of describing something)

descriptive (serving to describe or inform or characterized by description)

Sense 3

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 "describe" 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 "describe"):

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

Sense 4

Meaning:

Identify as in botany or biology, for example

Classified under:

Verbs of thinking, judging, analyzing, doubting

Synonyms:

describe; discover; distinguish; identify; key; key out; name

"Describe" entails doing...:

assort; class; classify; separate; sort; sort out (arrange or order by classes or categories)

Sentence frames:

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

 Context examples 

I am not sure which of the two ways I have described will apply to you in the days that follow the January 24 new moon.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)

“In such and such a house,” said Tom, describing his own father’s house.

(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)

In all, more than 2,000 new species have been described in the past 17 years.

(Report unveils 381 new plant and animal species in Amazon, Agência Brasil)

The researchers describes like a kind of synergy among all the causes that amount to worsening each individual problem.

(Study Finds Mixed News About Bee Populations, VOA)

All this I was forced to define and describe by putting cases and making suppositions.

(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)

The first thing he would do would be to describe the voyage of the treasure-hunters.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

But then how could this letter be trivial and grotesque, as described by the son?

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

The Australian team describes the membrane technology that separates hydrogen from other gases as a “watershed moment for energy.”

(Cars Powered by New Fuel Type Tested in Australia, VOA)

The term 'multivitamin' in this review was used to describe supplements that include most vitamins and minerals, rather than a select few.

(Most Popular Supplements Provide No Health Benefit, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

It is almost certainly an undescribed species and may not belong to any described genus.

(Deep Discoverer Discovers a Very Deep, Ghostlike Octopod, NOAA)