ILLUSTRATE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does illustrate mean? 

• ILLUSTRATE (verb)
  The verb ILLUSTRATE has 3 senses:

1. clarify by giving an example of

2. depict with an illustration

3. supply with illustrations

  Familiarity information: ILLUSTRATE used as a verb is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• ILLUSTRATE (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they illustrate    ... he / she / it illustrates   
Past simple: illustrated   
Past participle: illustrated   
-ing form: illustrating   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Clarify by giving an example of

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Synonyms:

exemplify; illustrate; instance

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

dilate; elaborate; enlarge; expand; expatiate; exposit; expound; flesh out; lucubrate (add details, as to an account or idea; clarify the meaning of and discourse in a learned way, usually in writing)

Sentence frames:

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

Derivation:

illustration (an item of information that is typical of a class or group)

illustration (showing by example)

illustrative (clarifying by use of examples)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Depict with an illustration

Classified under:

Verbs of sewing, baking, painting, performing

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

depict; picture; render; show (show in, or as in, a picture)

Domain category:

art; artistic creation; artistic production (the creation of beautiful or significant things)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

illustration (a visual representation (a picture or diagram) that is used make some subject more pleasing or easier to understand)

illustration (artwork that helps make something clear or attractive)

illustrative (serving to demonstrate)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Supply with illustrations

Classified under:

Verbs of sewing, baking, painting, performing

Context example:

illustrate a book with drawings

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

adorn; beautify; decorate; embellish; grace; ornament (make more attractive by adding ornament, colour, etc.)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

illustration (a visual representation (a picture or diagram) that is used make some subject more pleasing or easier to understand)

illustration (artwork that helps make something clear or attractive)

illustrator (an artist who makes illustrations (for books or magazines or advertisements etc.))

 Context examples 

In order to illustrate the advantages, she drew a comparison: It's like feeding a child.

(New Brazilian fertilizer can boost productivity, Agência BRASIL)

Mice given TnC L48Q after an induced heart attack also showed improved heart performance, illustrating that the engineered protein could also serve as a treatment.

(Engineered protein restores heart function, NIH)

They illustrate the importance of the impressions that people belonging to different groups form about one another, in terms of the mistrust, fear, or anger, for instance, that sometimes underlie inter-group interactions.

(White people’s perceptions of the emotions on black people’s faces are less accurate than their perceptions among other white people, University of Granada)

The divining party again laid their heads together: apparently they could not agree about the word or syllable the scene illustrated.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

These cascades illustrate that ceramide can be a growth stimulus or proapoptotic signal.

(Ceramide Signaling Pathway BioCarta, NCI Thesaurus/BIOCARTA)

It is especially useful for illustrating networks.

(Graph Circular Layout, NCI Thesaurus)

As the circumstances of his marriage illustrate his character, I cannot refrain from relating them.

(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)

The downstream effects of these PI-3 targets are indicated, illustrating the important role the PI3Ks have in cell function and survival.

(Phosphoinositide Pathway, NCI Thesaurus/BIOCARTA)

This pathway illustrates two of the cofactor regulatory factors, MEF2 and PPARa, and an example orphan receptor feedback inhibition loop.

(PGC1a Regulation Pathway, NCI Thesaurus/BIOCARTA)

Here we illustrate the negative feedback of cyclic nucleotides (CNG)-induced membrane depolarization on Ca2+ entry.

(Ion Channels in Vascular Endothelium Pathway, NCI Thesaurus/BIOCARTA)