DESCRIBE • DICTIONARY ONE.COM • Definition of Describe

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/dɪskrˈaɪb/ Listen

verb

Describe v. t. (past & past part. described; pres. part. describing)

To represent by drawing; to draw a plan of; to delineate; to trace or mark out; as, to describe a circle by the compasses; a torch waved about the head in such a way as to describe a circle.

To represent by words written or spoken; to give an account of; to make known to others by words or signs; as, the geographer describes countries and cities.

To distribute into parts, groups, or classes; to mark off; to class. (Obs.) "Passed through the land, and described it by cities into seven parts in a book."

Synonyms: To set forth; represent; delineate; relate; recount; narrate; express; explain; depict; portray; chracterize.

Describe v. i. To use the faculty of describing; to give a description; as, Milton describes with uncommon force and beauty.

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Etymology of 'Describe'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Describe" Quotes from Famous Books

... her toilet, Madame said to him, in my presence, "What was the personal appearance of Francis I.? He was a King I should have liked."—"He was, indeed, very captivating," said St. Germain; and he proceeded to describe his face and person as one does that of a man one has accurately observed. "It is a pity he was too ardent. I could have given him some good advice, which would have saved him from all his misfortunes; but he would not have followed ...

— The Memoirs of Louis XV. and XVI., Volume 2 • Madame du Hausset, and of an Unknown English Girl and the Princess Lamballe

... are few others with his gifts who would respond in the same way to their demand for sympathy and help; for Sir Andrew's interest in each patient was real. There was an attractive force about him, difficult to describe, and which only those who knew him could understand, for he was nothing if not original. It is impossible in this brief sketch to give an adequate portrait of a great personality and to tell the story of his life's work. I shall but try to ...

— The Strand Magazine: Volume VII, Issue 37. January, 1894. - An Illustrated Monthly • Edited by George Newnes

... which began to be used about 1848 to describe an iniquitous system of sub-contracting in the tailoring trade. Orders from master-tailors were undertaken by sub-contractors, who themselves farmed the work out to needy workers, who made the articles in their ...

— The Nuttall Encyclopaedia - Being a Concise and Comprehensive Dictionary of General Knowledge • Edited by Rev. James Wood

... the elbow of the Gulf of Guinea, is about ten times as large, one-third of this having been conceded by France to Germany in 1911, through the agency of M. Caillaux. Recent letters to The London Times describe ...

— New York Times Current History; The European War, Vol 2, No. 5, August, 1915 • Various

... know of such things, truly! why, I have been at both places, and have seen what I describe. I went to Roma on purpose to see the Holy Father, in order to make certain whether our French opinions of his character and infallibility were true or not, before I set up in ...

— The Wing-and-Wing - Le Feu-Follet • J. Fenimore Cooper

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