picture
pictures; pictured; picturing
Use the verb picture if you want people to imagine something vividly in their minds. If your story about your principal and some chickens is descriptive enough, your friends can picture the whole incident.
A picture is also a piece of art made by painting or drawing, like the pictures by famous artists you see in a museum. In a book, a picture is an illustration that accompanies the text, often in a child's picture book. You can also call a photograph a picture. Your dad might take so many pictures on vacation that it seems like you spent your entire childhood hiding from his camera.
Definitions of picture
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a visual representation (of an object or scene or person or abstraction) produced on a surface“they showed us the pictures of their wedding”
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types:
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bitmap, electronic image
an image represented as a two dimensional array of brightness values for pixels
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chiaroscuro
a monochrome picture made by using several different shades of the same color
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collage, montage
a paste-up made by sticking together pieces of paper or photographs to form an artistic image
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foil, transparency
picture consisting of a positive photograph or drawing on a transparent base; viewed with a projector
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computer graphic, graphic
an image that is generated by a computer
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iconography
the images and symbolic representations that are traditionally associated with a person or a subject
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inset
a small picture inserted within the bounds or a larger one
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likeness, semblance
picture consisting of a graphic image of a person or thing
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cyclorama, diorama, panorama
a picture (or series of pictures) representing a continuous scene
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reflection, reflexion
the image of something as reflected by a mirror (or other reflective material)
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CAT scan, scan
an image produced by scanning
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echogram, sonogram
an image of a structure that is produced by ultrasonography (reflections of high-frequency sound waves); used to observe fetal growth or to study bodily organs
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grisaille
chiaroscuro painting or stained glass etc., in shades of grey imitating the effect of relief
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Identikit, Identikit picture
a likeness of a person's face constructed from descriptions given to police; uses a set of transparencies of various facial features that can be combined to build up a picture of the person sought
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photomontage
a montage that uses photographic images
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portrait, portrayal
any likeness of a person, in any medium
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lantern slide, slide
a transparency mounted in a frame; viewed with a slide projector
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overhead, viewgraph
a transparency for use with an overhead projector
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type of:
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representation
a creation that is a visual or tangible rendering of someone or something
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graphic art consisting of an artistic composition made by applying paints to a surface“his pictures hang in the Louvre”
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synonyms:
painting
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types:
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abstraction
an abstract painting
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cityscape
painting depicting a city or urban area
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daub
an unskillful painting
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distemper
a painting created with paint that is made by mixing the pigments with water and a binder
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finger-painting
a painting produced by spreading paint with the fingers
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icon, ikon
a conventional religious painting in oil on a small wooden panel; venerated in the Eastern Church
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landscape
painting depicting an expanse of natural scenery
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illumination, miniature
painting or drawing included in a book (especially in illuminated medieval manuscripts)
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monochrome
painting done in a range of tones of a single color
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mural, wall painting
a painting that is applied to a wall surface
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nude, nude painting
a painting of a naked human figure
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oil painting
a picture painted with oil paints
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pentimento
the reappearance in a painting of an underlying image that had been painted over (usually when the later painting becomes transparent with age)
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sand painting
a painting done by Amerindians (especially Navaho); made of fine colored sands on a neutral background
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seascape, waterscape
a painting of the sea (as distinguished from a landscape)
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semi-abstraction
a semiabstract painting
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still life
a painting of inanimate objects such as fruit or flowers
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tanka
a Tibetan religious painting on fabric
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trompe l'oeil
a painting rendered in such great detail as to deceive the viewer concerning its reality
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water-color, water-colour, watercolor, watercolour
a painting produced with watercolors
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canvas, canvass
an oil painting on canvas fabric
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fresco
a mural done with watercolors on wet plaster
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gouache
a watercolor executed with opaque watercolors mixed with gum
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wash, wash drawing
a watercolor made by applying a series of monochrome washes one over the other
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type of:
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graphic art
the arts of drawing or painting or printmaking
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illustrations used to decorate or explain a text“the dictionary had many pictures”
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synonyms:
pictorial matter
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type of:
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illustration
artwork that helps make something clear or attractive
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illustration
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show in, or as in, a picture
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a situation treated as an observable object“the political picture is favorable”
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synonyms:
scene
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type of:
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situation, state of affairs
the general state of things; the combination of circumstances at a given time
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situation, state of affairs
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a clear and telling mental image“he had no clear picture of himself or his world”
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synonyms:
impression, mental picture
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type of:
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image, mental image
an iconic mental representation
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image, mental image
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a graphic or vivid verbal description“too often the narrative was interrupted by long word pictures”“the author gives a depressing picture of life in Poland”
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synonyms:
characterisation, characterization, delineation, depiction, word picture, word-painting
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types:
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epithet
descriptive word or phrase
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portrait, portraiture, portrayal
a word picture of a person's appearance and character
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type of:
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description, verbal description
a statement that represents something in words
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epithet
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a typical example of some state or quality“the very picture of a modern general”“she was the picture of despair”
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type of:
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exemplification, typification
a representational or typifying form or model
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exemplification, typification
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imagine; conceive of; see in one's mind
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realise, realize, see, understand
perceive (an idea or situation) mentally
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visualise, visualize
form a mental picture of something that is invisible or abstract
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type of:
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conceive of, envisage, ideate, imagine
form a mental image of something that is not present or that is not the case
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realise, realize, see, understand
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a representation of a person or scene in the form of a print or transparent slide; recorded by a camera on light-sensitive material
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synonyms:
exposure, photo, photograph, pic
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types:
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beefcake
a photograph of a muscular man in minimal attire
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black and white, monochrome
a black-and-white photograph or slide
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blueprint
photographic print of plans or technical drawings etc.
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cheesecake
a photograph of an attractive woman in minimal attire
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closeup
a photograph or video taken at close range
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daguerreotype
a photograph made by an early photographic process; the image was produced on a silver plate sensitized to iodine and developed in mercury vapor
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blowup, enlargement, magnification
a photographic print that has been enlarged
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frame
a single one of a series of still transparent pictures forming a cinema, television or video film
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glossy
a photograph that is printed on smooth shiny paper
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headshot
a photograph of a person's head
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hologram, holograph
the intermediate photograph (or photographic record) that contains information for reproducing a three-dimensional image by holography
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longshot
a photograph taken from a distance
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microdot
photograph reduced to the size of a dot (usually for purposes of security)
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arial mosaic, mosaic, photomosaic
arrangement of aerial photographs forming a composite picture
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mug shot, mugshot
a photograph of someone's face (especially one made for police records)
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photocopy
a photographic copy of written or printed or graphic work
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photographic print, print
a printed picture produced from a photographic negative
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photomicrograph
a photograph taken with the help of a microscope
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radiogram, radiograph, shadowgraph, skiagram, skiagraph
a photographic image produced on a radiosensitive surface by radiation other than visible light (especially by X-rays or gamma rays)
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shot, snap, snapshot
an informal photograph; usually made with a small hand-held camera
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spectrogram, spectrograph
a photographic record of a spectrum
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stereo, stereoscopic photograph, stereoscopic picture
two photographs taken from slightly different angles that appear three-dimensional when viewed together
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still
a static photograph (especially one taken from a movie and used for advertising purposes)
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telephoto, telephotograph
a photograph made with a telephoto lens
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telephotograph
a photograph transmitted and reproduced over a distance
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time exposure
a photograph produced with a relatively long exposure time
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vignette
a photograph whose edges shade off gradually
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wedding picture
photographs of bride and groom and their friends taken at their wedding
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scene, shot
a consecutive series of pictures that constitutes a unit of action in a film
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selfie
a photograph that you take of yourself, typically with a digital camera
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anaglyph
moving or still pictures in contrasting colors that appear three-dimensional when superimposed
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autoradiograph
a radiogram produced by radiation emitted by the specimen being photographed
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cutout
a photograph from which the background has been cut away
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photostat
a photocopy made on a Photostat machine
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proof
a trial photographic print from a negative
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radiophoto, radiophotograph
a photograph transmitted by radio waves
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X ray, X-ray, X-ray photograph, X-ray picture, roentgenogram, x-ray
a radiogram made by exposing photographic film to X rays; used in medical diagnosis
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visible speech
spectrogram of speech; speech displayed spectrographically
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outtake
a scene that is filmed but is not used in the final editing of the film
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vignette
a short evocative scene, as in a film or play
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type of:
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representation
a creation that is a visual or tangible rendering of someone or something
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the visible part of a television transmission“they could still receive the sound but the picture was gone”
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synonyms:
video
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type of:
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visual communication
communication that relies on vision
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visual communication
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a form of entertainment that enacts a story by sound and a sequence of images giving the illusion of continuous movement
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synonyms:
film, flick, motion picture, motion-picture show, movie, moving picture, moving-picture show, pic, picture show
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types:
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telefilm
a movie that is made to be shown on television
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feature, feature film
the principal (full-length) film in a program at a movie theater
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final cut
the final edited version of a movie as approved by the director and producer
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home movie
a film made at home by an amateur photographer
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collage film
a movie that juxtaposes different kinds of footage
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coming attraction
a movie that is advertised to draw customers
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shoot-'em-up
a movie featuring shooting and violence
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short subject
a brief film; often shown prior to showing the feature
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docudrama, documentary, documentary film, infotainment
a film or TV program presenting the facts about a person or event
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cinema verite
a movie that shows ordinary people in actual activities without being controlled by a director
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film noir
a movie that is marked by a mood of pessimism, fatalism, menace, and cynical characters
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skin flick
a pornographic movie
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rough cut
the first print of a movie after preliminary editing
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silent movie, silent picture, silents
a movie without a soundtrack
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slow motion
a movie that apparently takes place at a slower than normal speed; achieved by taking the film at a faster rate
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talkie, talking picture
a movie with synchronized speech and singing
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3-D, 3D, three-D
a movie with images having three dimensional form or appearance
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musical, musical comedy, musical theater
a play or film whose action and dialogue is interspersed with singing and dancing
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Western, horse opera
a film or novel about life in the western United States during the period of exploration and development
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animated cartoon, cartoon, toon
a film made by photographing a series of cartoon drawings to give the illusion of movement when projected in rapid sequence
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newsreel
a short film and commentary about current events
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peepshow
a short pornographic film shown in a small coin-operated booth
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type of:
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product, production
an artifact that has been created by someone or some process
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show
a social event involving a public performance or entertainment
DISCLAIMER: These example sentences appear in various news sources and books to reflect the usage of the word ‘picture'.
Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Vocabulary.com or its editors.
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