de‧scribe S2 W1 / dɪskraɪb / 动词 [及物动词]
1 to say what something or someone is like by giving details about them :
The police asked her to describe the man.
Another approach to the problem is described in Chapter 3.
describe somebody/something as (being/having) something
After the operation her condition was described as comfortable.
The youth is described as being 18 to 19 years old.
describe how/why/what etc
It’s difficult to describe how I feel.
describe somebody/something to somebody
So describe this new boyfriend to me!
describe doing something
He described finding his mother lying on the floor.
2 describe a circle/an arc etc formal to make a movement which forms the shape of a circle etc :
Her hand described a circle in the air.
THESAURUS
describe to talk or write about a person, place, event etc, in order to show what they are like : Could you try and describe the man you saw? | In her book, she describes her journey across the Sahara. | Police described the attack as particularly violent.
tell somebody about somebody/something to describe someone or something to someone. This 短语 is more commonly used than describe in everyday spoken English : So, tell me about your holiday! | My friends have told me all about you!
depict formal to describe someone or something in a piece of writing : His stories depict life in Trinidad as seen through the eyes of a young boy. | In this new biography she is depicted as a lonely and unhappy woman.
portray/represent formal to describe someone or something in a particular way : College teachers are often represented on television shows as slightly eccentric. | The magazine has been criticized for the way it portrays women. | The treatment has been portrayed as a painless way of curing cancer, which is simply not true. | Police have represented her as a willing participant in the crimes.
characterize somebody/something as something formal to describe someone or something by emphasizing one particular quality or feature about them : He characterized himself as ‘an average American’. | The successful schools were characterized as innovative and creative.
paint somebody/something as something to describe someone or something, especially in a way that makes people believe something that is not true : Not all young people are as bad as they’re painted in the press. | We won, yet the media is painting it as a victory for our opponents. | The woman was painted as having only a slight grasp of reality.
paint a picture to describe a situation, so that people can get a general idea of what it is like : Can you paint a picture of life in Japan for us? | My uncle’s letters generally painted a rosy picture of how things were. | The report painted a bleak picture of the management’s failures.