Library / English Dictionary

DESCRIBE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Identify as in botany or biology, for example

Synonyms:

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

Classified under:

Verbs of thinking, judging, analyzing, doubting

"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

Sense 2

Meaning:

To give an account or representation of in words

Example:

Discreet Italian police described it in a manner typically continental

Synonyms:

account; describe; report

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

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:

Give a description of

Example:

He drew an elaborate plan of attack

Synonyms:

depict; describe; draw

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

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 4

Meaning:

Make a mark or lines on a surface

Example:

trace the outline of a figure in the sand

Synonyms:

delineate; describe; draw; line; trace

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

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

Credits

 Context examples: 

In Nature, an NIAID-based team described the atomic-level structure of the entire pre-fusion Env trimer.

(The Structure and Dynamics of HIV Surface Spikes, NIH)

Planet c and d might best be described as mini-Neptunes, a type of planet not seen in our own solar system.

(NASA’s TESS Mission Scores ‘Hat Trick’ With 3 New Worlds, NASA)

Describes a state, condition, or behavior that is unusual or different from what is considered normal.

(Abnormal, NCI Dictionary)

Silent or hormonally non-functioning ACTH producing adenomas have also been described.

(ACTH-Producing Pituitary Gland Adenoma, NCI Thesaurus)

Describes the amount of acid in a substance.

(Acidity, NCI Dictionary)

Their findings describe how biological processes in the sediments at the lake bottom transform the methane into carbon dioxide.

(Methane-eating bacteria in lake deep beneath Antarctic ice sheet may reduce greenhouse gas emissions, National Science Foundation)

The described gene is also associated with a neurological disorder in humans.

(New insights into genetic basis of bird migration, National Science Foundation)

The team used this data to develop what they describe as a "rotation curve."

(Researchers Estimate Mass of Milky Way to Be 3.9 Tredecillion Pounds, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

In a paper, researchers describe an experiment that turned 20 kilometers of undersea fiber-optic cable into the equivalent of 10,000 seismic stations along the ocean floor.

(Underwater telecom cables make superb seismic network, National Science Foundation)

Scientists surmised that the molecule was spontaneously thrown together within the bellies of these gas giants and, as Sousa-Silva describes, violently dredged up by huge, planet-sized convective storms.

(Poisonous Earthly Molecule May Be Sign of Extraterrestrial Life, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)