picture: Meaning and Definition of

pic•ture

1. a visual representation of a person, object, or scene, as a painting, drawing, photograph, etc.: I carry a picture of my grandchild in my wallet.
2. any visible image, however produced: pictures reflected in a pool of water.
3. a mental image: a clear picture of how he had looked that day.
4. a particular image or reality as portrayed in an account or description; depiction; version.
5. a tableau, as in theatrical representation.
6. See
7. (older use). movies.
8. a person, thing, group, or scene regarded as resembling a work of pictorial art in beauty, fineness of appearance, etc.: She was a picture in her new blue dress.
9. the image or perfect likeness of someone else: He is the picture of his father.
10. a visible or concrete embodiment of some quality or condition: the picture of health.
11. a situation or set of circumstances: the economic picture.
12. the image on a computer monitor, the viewing screen of a television set, or a motion-picture screen.

1. to represent in a picture or pictorially, as by painting or drawing.
2. to form a mental picture of; imagine: He couldn't picture himself doing such a thing.
3. to depict in words; describe graphically: He pictured Rome so vividly that you half-believed you were there.
4. to present or create as a setting; portray: His book pictured the world of the future.