# GIF

Pronunciation: say "GIF" /ɡɪf/

## Noun

1. Any short video clip without sound, usually one that loops, even when the file is not actually in GIF format.
   - Simple: Any short video with no sound that usually plays over and over.
   - _Most of the reaction GIFs in the comment thread were clips from old sitcoms._
   - _The site quietly saves every GIF as a small MP4 file so it loads faster._
2. A bitmap image in a particular file format that supports multiple images or an animation in one file and up to 256 distinct colors per frame, including a fully transparent color.
   - Simple: An image saved in a file type that allows animation and up to 256 colors in each frame.
   - _The designer exported the logo as a GIF with a transparent background._
   - _Early web pages were full of GIFs because the format kept image files small enough for slow connections._

## Verb

3. To create a GIF file of something, or, more loosely, a similar animated image file of it.
   - Simple: To make a GIF, or a similar moving picture, out of something such as a video clip.
   - _Fans GIF every dramatic pause in the finale within minutes of it airing._
   - _The team's social media editor GIFed the winning shot and posted it before the crowd stopped cheering._

## Origin

An acronym of graphics interchange format.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/gif (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).