Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English - pictorial

picture ~1 n 1 »IMAGE« a painting, drawing, or photograph  (A picture of a waterfall hung on the wall. | Get the children to draw a picture of their dream house. | Gary got his picture in the papers.) 2 »SITUATION« the general situation in a place, organization etc  (The general picture appears to be of low levels of union membership. | the wider political picture) 3 »DESCRIPTION« C usually singular a description that gives you an idea of what something is like + of  (Archaeologists are trying to build up a picture of life in Mayan cities. | paint a picture (=describe something in a particular way))  (Lee's film paints a bleak picture of life in the inner city.) 4 »TELEVISION« C usually singular the image that appears on a television or cinema screen  (Something's wrong with the TV - the picture is blurry.) 5 »MENTAL IMAGE« C usually singular an image or memory that you have in your mind  (I still have a vivid picture of the first time I saw Paris.) 6 take a picture to use a camera to take a photograph  (Dad took a picture of us standing by a huge redwood tree.) 7 put sb in the picture to give someone information about something, so that they can understand it  (I've been away for a month so you'll have to put me in the picture.) 8 get the picture especially spoken to understand a situation  ("Her parents are separated and she's being raised by her sister." "I get the picture.") 9 out of the picture if someone is out of the picture, they are not involved in a situation  ("Is Pam still with Eric?" "No, he's out of the picture.") 10 »FILM« a) a word meaning a film, used especially by people in the film industry  (It was voted the year's best picture.) b) the pictures old-fashioned the cinema  (Do you want to go to the pictures on Saturday?) be in pictures (=act in films or work in making films) 11 be the picture of health/innocence/despair etc to look very healthy, innocent etc  (Head bowed and sobbing, she was the picture of misery.) 12 the big picture AmE informal a situation considered as a whole, rather than its details  (Try and get an idea of the big picture before you suggest any changes.) 13 be/look a picture especially BrE to be beautiful or unusual to look at  (Madge's garden is a picture in the summer.)  (- see also pretty as a picture pretty2 (8)) ~2 v 1 to imagine something, especially by creating an image in your mind  (picture sb/sth as sth)  (Rob had pictured her as kind of serious, but she wasn't like that at all.) ~ sb doing sth  (I really can't picture him skiing. He's so clumsy!) ~ my surprise/horror/annoyance etc (=used when saying how surprised, annoyed etc you were)  (Picture my surprise on finding everyone had left!) 2 to show something or someone in a photograph, painting, or drawing  (The billboard pictured a handsome, thirtyish man smoking a cigarette.) 3 often passive to describe something clearly  (This situation is realistically pictured in the first chapter.)