Library / English Dictionary

SKETCH

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Preliminary drawing for later elaboration

Example:

he made several studies before starting to paint

Synonyms:

sketch; study

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("sketch" is a kind of...):

drawing (a representation of forms or objects on a surface by means of lines)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "sketch"):

design (a preliminary sketch indicating the plan for something)

draft; rough drawing (a preliminary sketch of a design or picture)

vignette (a small illustrative sketch (as sometimes placed at the beginning of chapters in books))

Derivation:

sketch (make a sketch of)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Short descriptive summary (of events)

Synonyms:

resume; sketch; survey

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Hypernyms ("sketch" is a kind of...):

sum-up; summary (a brief statement that presents the main points in a concise form)

Derivation:

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

sketchy (giving only major points; lacking completeness)

Sense 3

Meaning:

A humorous or satirical drawing published in a newspaper or magazine

Synonyms:

cartoon; sketch

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Hypernyms ("sketch" is a kind of...):

humor; humour; wit; witticism; wittiness (a message whose ingenuity or verbal skill or incongruity has the power to evoke laughter)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "sketch"):

anime (a style of animation developed in Japan, characterized by stylized colorful art and often adult themes)

cartoon strip; comic strip; funnies; strip (a sequence of drawings telling a story in a newspaper or comic book)

Holonyms ("sketch" is a part of...):

publication (a copy of a printed work offered for distribution)

Sense 4

Meaning:

A brief literary description

Synonyms:

sketch; vignette

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Hypernyms ("sketch" is a kind of...):

description (the act of describing something)

Derivation:

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

 II. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Describe roughly or briefly or give the main points or summary of

Example:

outline his ideas

Synonyms:

adumbrate; outline; sketch

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

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

depict; describe; draw (give a description of)

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

block out (indicate roughly)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

sketch (short descriptive summary (of events))

sketch (a brief literary description)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Make a sketch of

Example:

sketch the building

Synonyms:

chalk out; sketch

Classified under:

Verbs of sewing, baking, painting, performing

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

draw (represent by making a drawing of, as with a pencil, chalk, etc. on a surface)

Domain category:

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

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

sketch (preliminary drawing for later elaboration)

sketcher (an implement for sketching)

sketcher (someone who draws sketches)

Credits

 Context examples: 

Should the scheme he had now sketched prove feasible, Silver, already doubly a traitor, would not hesitate to adopt it.

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

“We have had the pleasure of making the Doctor’s acquaintance,” said Holmes, and in a few words he sketched out what had occurred.

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

He had never so much as thought of making one, so far as his papers afforded any evidence; for there was no kind of hint, sketch, or memorandum, of any testamentary intention whatever.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

You have given us an amusing sketch, and human nature cannot say it was not so.

(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)

Her greatest deficiency was in the pencil—she had no notion of drawing—not enough even to attempt a sketch of her lover's profile, that she might be detected in the design.

(Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen)

The experience was not lost on the painters, and doubtless some of the sketches of the "Prelude to the Great Storm" will grace the R. A. and R. I. walls in May next.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

Martin began, that morning, a story which he had sketched out a number of weeks before and which ever since had been worrying him with its insistent clamor to be created.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

Scientists have sketched out one of the greatest baby booms in North American history, a centuries-long growth blip among southwestern Native Americans between 500 and 1300 A.D. It was a time when the early features of civilization—including farming and food storage—had matured to a level where birth rates likely exceeded the highest in the world today.

(Scientists chart a baby boom in southwestern Native Americans from 500 to 1300 A.D., NSF)

Mr. Rochester continued—"Adele showed me some sketches this morning, which she said were yours.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

I don't approve of cigars and I will only allow it on condition that you let me put you into my sketch.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)