picture

PIK-chur/ˈpɪk(t)ʃəɹ/UKPIK-chuh/ˈpɪk(t)ʃə/

Pluralpictures

Verbpictures, picturing, pictured

16 meanings of picture

Practice

1
a photonouncountable
A photograph; an image captured with a camera.
She snapped a quick picture of the sunset.
He uploaded all his vacation pictures to the cloud.
UsageYou take a picture of someone or something (not ~~incorrect: make a picture~~), and people appear in the picture.
Similarphoto, photograph, snapshot, shot
2
artworknouncountable
A drawing, painting, print, or other image of a person, scene, or object made on a surface.
He hung a framed picture above the fireplace.
The gallery displayed pictures from several local artists.
UsageA picture by an artist is one they made; a picture of someone shows them.
Similarlikeness
Note
The word takes in drawings and paintings as well as prints and photographs. Brian Hayes, writing in American Scientist in 2012, counts geological maps, molecular diagrams, astronomical photographs and MRI images among the pictures of science.
3
whole situationnouncountable
The overall state of affairs; the situation as a whole.
The financial picture improved after the merger.
Analysts struggled to get a complete picture of the market.
UsageOften with a word in front: the financial picture, the overall picture. The big picture is the whole situation, not one part of it.
4
filmnouncountable
A motion picture; a cinematic film.
The studio's latest picture broke box-office records.
She won an award for her role in a wartime picture.
UsageIn everyday talk movie or film is more usual; picture is most common in the film business, as in Best Picture.
Similarfilm, movie
Note
A film counted as a single work: a studio's latest picture, a lead role in someone's next picture. In Delos W. Lovelace's King Kong (1932), a filmmaker who makes "moving pictures" picks a woman for the lead in his next picture.
5
imagineverbtransitive
To form a mental image of something; to imagine or envision it.
Close your eyes and picture yourself on stage.
She pictured the conversation going badly before it even began.
UsageOften used as a command: picture yourself there, picture this. With a verb, usually picture someone doing something.
Similarimagine, visualize, envision, envisage
Note
The verb of the mind's eye, and a favorite in the imperative. Lennon–McCartney's "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" (1967) opens with it, inviting listeners to imagine themselves out on the water. Blondie's "Picture This" (1978) asks the listener to see a freezing December day.
6
verbtransitive
To show someone or something in a picture or photograph, or to describe it so vividly that it can be clearly imagined.
The mural pictures the city's founding in vivid detail.
Medieval manuscripts often picture angels with elaborate wings.
UsageOften in the passive, especially under photos: the man pictured above, she is pictured with her family.
7
nouncountable
An account or portrayal that conveys a sense of what something is like.
The report paints a bleak picture of the city's housing market.
Interviews with former employees gave investigators a fuller picture of how the company was run.
UsageMost often in paint a picture (a bleak or rosy one) and give someone a picture of something.
Similarportrait, account, portrayal, overview
8
mental imagenouncountable
A mental image; a representation formed in the imagination.
The witness held a vivid picture of the events in her mind.
Reading the letter, he formed a picture of their new home.
UsageUsually you form, have or conjure up a picture of something, in your mind or head.
Similarimage, impression, idea, vision
Note
The picture held in the mind rather than on a wall. You conjure up a picture of someone before you meet them, and Coleridge's eyes "make pictures when they are shut." Such a picture can turn out to be an illusion once reality arrives. Its counterpart is the verb meaning "imagine".
9
nouncountable or uncountable
What a television, computer or other screen displays, especially as judged by how sharp or good it looks.
If the picture looks washed out, try lowering the brightness in the display settings.
Reviewers praised the monitor's picture quality but complained about its weak speakers.
Similarimage, display

Less common meanings

10
cinemanouncolloquialplural
The cinema considered as a form of entertainment, especially an outing to watch films.
After dinner they decided to head to the pictures rather than stay home.
In her childhood, a trip to the pictures was the highlight of the week.
UsageUsed with the, most often in go to the pictures or at the pictures.
Similarcinema, movies
Note
The phrase names the outing, the cinema as entertainment, rather than any one film. A trip to the pictures is an outing, while a trip to see a picture is about the single film.
11
lovely sightnouncountable
A lovely or striking sight; something delightful to look at.
Dressed for the gala, she was an absolute picture.
In late spring, with roses climbing every fence and the lawn freshly cut, the old garden was a picture.
UsageUsually after be, often with a real or an absolute: the garden was a real picture.
Similarvision, beauty
Note
Gardens and faces are typical subjects. With faces, the phrase points to an expression. When The Guardian wrote in 2018 that Juan Mata's "face was a picture" as young footballers sang for him, it meant his delight was a sight to see.
12
perfect examplenoun
Someone or something that perfectly embodies a quality or type; a paragon.
Just out of the hospital, she was the picture of health.
He remained the very picture of confidence throughout the trial.
UsageAlmost always the picture of + a quality, often the very picture of: the picture of health.
Similarepitome, embodiment, personification, model
Note
The phrase can suggest appearance more than substance. In Heart: a History (2018), Sandeep Jauhar describes how Roosevelt's doctors, family and even journalists portrayed him as the picture of health while he was in poor health.
13
statuenounobsoletecountable
A figure or model; a shaped representation of something.
Similarfigure, effigy
Note
In this sense a picture need not be flat at all. James Howell, in one of his Familiar Letters, speaks of "the young king's picture … in virgin wax," meaning a modeled likeness rather than a painted one. Readers will meet this use mainly in older texts like his. In current writing, figure or model is the usual word for a shaped likeness.
Checked 5 Nov 2026 · 2 facts
James Howell uses the quoted words in his Familiar Letters, in the letter addressed to his brother Dr. Howell. archive.org
The picture in Howell's passage is a modeled wax likeness. archive.org
14
art formnounobsoleteuncountable
Painting as an art form; the representation of subjects by means of paint.
Similarpainting
Note
Here the Latin meaning survives almost intact: pictūra named the art of painting as well as a single painting, and the object meaning lives on in the general "image" sense. Used this way the noun takes no article and stands beside the names of other arts, as in Sir Henry Wotton's "either in picture or sculpture," written in the 1600s. In current English, painting usually does this job.
Checked 5 Nov 2026 · 3 facts
English picture derives from Latin pictūra, which included the meaning ‘the art of painting’. en.wiktionary.org
Sir Henry Wotton used ‘either in picture or sculpture’, with picture referring to painting as an art and appearing without an article. pure.rug.nl
The Wotton passage was written in the seventeenth century. celm.folger.edu
15
noun
In the COBOL programming language, a format string that defines how a data item is displayed or stored.
16
noundialectalMulticultural London English
A sample portion of an illegal drug.

Practice

Can you tell the meanings of picture apart? Answer 3 quick questions from this page, or write your own sentence and AI will check it.

Origin

Latin pictūra ("the art of painting, a painting"), formed from pingō ("I paint"), is the source of Middle English pycture. The word is a doublet of pictura.