Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English - art

~1 n 1 the use of painting, drawing, sculpture etc to represent things or express ideas  (an example of Indian art | modern art)  (the Museum of Modern Art) 2 objects that are produced by art, such as paintings, drawings etc  (an art exhibition) 3 the skill of drawing or painting  (He excelled at art at school.) 4 the arts art, music, theatre, film, literature etc all considered together  (more government funding for the arts) 5 arts also the arts subjects of study that are not scientific, such as history, languages etc  (- see also humanities) 6 the ability or skill involved in doing or making something  (the art of doing something)  (Television is ruining the art of conversation. | be quite an art (=be quite difficult))  (Driving a car through central London is quite an art. | have/get sth down to a fine art (=do something very well))  (I've got the early morning routine down to a fine art.) ~2 v thou art old use used to mean `you are' when talking to one person