DESCRIBE

identify, discover, key, key out, distinguish, describe, name

(verb) identify as in botany or biology, for example

report, describe, account

(verb) to give an account or representation of in words; “Discreet Italian police described it in a manner typically continental”

describe, depict, draw

(verb) give a description of; “He drew an elaborate plan of attack”

trace, draw, line, describe, delineate

(verb) make a mark or lines on a surface; “draw a line”; “trace the outline of a figure in the sand”

Source: WordNet® 3.1


Etymology

Verb

describe (third-person singular simple present describes, present participle describing, simple past and past participle described)

(transitive) To represent in words.

(transitive) To represent by drawing; to draw a plan of; to delineate; to trace or mark out.

(transitive, mathematics) To give rise to a geometrical structure.

(transitive, taxonomy) To introduce a new taxon to science by explaining its characteristics and particularly how it differs from other taxa.

(obsolete) To distribute into parts, groups, or classes; to mark off; to class.

Synonyms

• (to represent in words): portray, betell, depict, report; see also describe

• (to represent in writing): bewrite

Anagrams

• escribed

Source: Wiktionary


De*scribe", v. t. [imp. & p. p. Described; p. pr. & vb. n. Describing.] Etym: [L. describere, descriptum; de- + scribere to write: cf. OE. descriven, OF. descrivre, F. décrire. See Scribe, and cf. Descry.]

1. 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.

2. 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.

3. 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. Josh. xviii. 9.

Syn.

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

De*scribe", v. i.

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

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition



RESET




Word of the Day

4 April 2025

GUILLOTINE

(verb) kill by cutting the head off with a guillotine; “The French guillotined many Vietnamese while they occupied the country”


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Coffee Trivia

The Boston Tea Party helped popularize coffee in America. The hefty tea tax imposed on the colonies in 1773 resulted in America switching from tea to coffee. In the lead up to the Revolutionary War, it became patriotic to sip java instead of tea. The Civil War made the drink more pervasive. Coffee helped energize tired troops, and drinking it became an expression of freedom.

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