silhouette

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sil·hou·ette

(sĭl′o͞o-ĕt′)

1. A drawing consisting of the outline of something, especially a human profile, filled in with a solid color.

2. An outline that appears dark against a light background. See Synonyms at outline.

tr.v. sil·hou·et·ted, sil·hou·et·ting, sil·hou·ettes

To cause to be seen as a silhouette; outline: Figures were silhouetted against the setting sun.

[French, after Étienne de Silhouette (1709-1767), French finance minister.]

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

silhouette

(ˌsɪluːˈɛt)

1. the outline of a solid figure as cast by its shadow

2. (Art Terms) an outline drawing filled in with black, often a profile portrait cut out of black paper and mounted on a light ground

(tr) to cause to appear in silhouette

[C18: named after Étienne de Silhouette (1709–67), French politician, perhaps referring to silhouettes as partial portraits, with a satirical allusion to Silhouette's brief career as controller general (1759)]

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

sil•hou•ette

(ˌsɪl uˈɛt)

n., v. -et•ted, -et•ting. n.

1. a two-dimensional representation of the outline of an object, as a person's profile, filled in with black or another color.

2. the outline or general shape of something.

3. a dark image outlined against a lighter background.

v.t.

4. to show in or as if in a silhouette.

[1790–1800; < French after Etienne de Silhouette (1709–67), French finance minister]

silhouette

Past participle: silhouetted
Gerund: silhouetting

Imperative
silhouette
silhouette

Present
I silhouette
you silhouette
he/she/it silhouettes
we silhouette
you silhouette
they silhouette

Preterite
I silhouetted
you silhouetted
he/she/it silhouetted
we silhouetted
you silhouetted
they silhouetted

Present Continuous
I am silhouetting
you are silhouetting
he/she/it is silhouetting
we are silhouetting
you are silhouetting
they are silhouetting

Present Perfect
I have silhouetted
you have silhouetted
he/she/it has silhouetted
we have silhouetted
you have silhouetted
they have silhouetted

Past Continuous
I was silhouetting
you were silhouetting
he/she/it was silhouetting
we were silhouetting
you were silhouetting
they were silhouetting

Past Perfect
I had silhouetted
you had silhouetted
he/she/it had silhouetted
we had silhouetted
you had silhouetted
they had silhouetted

Future
I will silhouette
you will silhouette
he/she/it will silhouette
we will silhouette
you will silhouette
they will silhouette

Future Perfect
I will have silhouetted
you will have silhouetted
he/she/it will have silhouetted
we will have silhouetted
you will have silhouetted
they will have silhouetted

Future Continuous
I will be silhouetting
you will be silhouetting
he/she/it will be silhouetting
we will be silhouetting
you will be silhouetting
they will be silhouetting

Present Perfect Continuous
I have been silhouetting
you have been silhouetting
he/she/it has been silhouetting
we have been silhouetting
you have been silhouetting
they have been silhouetting

Future Perfect Continuous
I will have been silhouetting
you will have been silhouetting
he/she/it will have been silhouetting
we will have been silhouetting
you will have been silhouetting
they will have been silhouetting

Past Perfect Continuous
I had been silhouetting
you had been silhouetting
he/she/it had been silhouetting
we had been silhouetting
you had been silhouetting
they had been silhouetting

Conditional
I would silhouette
you would silhouette
he/she/it would silhouette
we would silhouette
you would silhouette
they would silhouette

Past Conditional
I would have silhouetted
you would have silhouetted
he/she/it would have silhouetted
we would have silhouetted
you would have silhouetted
they would have silhouetted

Collins English Verb Tables © HarperCollins Publishers 2011

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

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Noun	1.	silhouette - an outline of a solid object (as cast by its shadow) lineation, outline - the line that appears to bound an object
	2.	silhouette - a drawing of the outline of an object; filled in with some uniform color drawing - a representation of forms or objects on a surface by means of lines; "drawings of abstract forms"; "he did complicated pen-and-ink drawings like medieval miniatures"
Verb	1.	silhouette - project on a background, such as a screen, like a silhouette project - project on a screen; "The images are projected onto the screen"
	2.	silhouette - represent by a silhouette interpret, represent - create an image or likeness of; "The painter represented his wife as a young girl"

silhouette

noun

1. outline, form, shape, profile, delineation The dark silhouette of the castle ruins.

verb

1. outline, define, delineate, etch, demarcate, delimit firefighters silhouetted against the burning wreckage

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

silhouette

noun

A line marking and shaping the outer form of an object:

contour, delineation, outline, profile.

Translations

خَيال، رَسْم صورة ظِلِّيَّهصورةٌ ظِلِّيَّه

silueta

silhuet

Silhouette Schattenbild

σιλουέτα

silhouette

árnyképsziluett

skuggamyndútlínumynd

contorno profilare profilo sagoma

siluetas

aprisessiluets

silhuett skygge skyggebilde

silueta

gölge karartı siluet

人物素描剪影

silhouette

[ˌsɪluːˈet]

A. N → silueta f
in silhouette → en silueta

B. VT to be silhouetted against sth → destacarse or perfilarse en or contra algo

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

silhouette

[ˌsɪluˈɛt] n (= outline) → silhouette f
in silhouette → en silhouette

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

silhouette

n → Silhouette f; (= picture) → Schattenriss m, → Scherenschnitt m

vt to be silhouetted against something → sich (als Silhouette) gegen or von etw abzeichnen

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

silhouette

[ˌsɪluːˈɛt]

1. n (gen) → sagoma; (drawing) → silhouette f inv

2. vt to be silhouetted against → stagliarsi contro

silhouette

(siluˈet) noun

1. an outline drawing of a person. A silhouette in a silver frame hung on the wall.

2. a dark image, especially a shadow, seen against the light.

Mentioned in ?

References in classic literature ?

Then I heard midnight pealing out from Pyrford Church behind me, and then came the silhouette of Maybury Hill, with its tree- tops and roofs black and sharp against the red.

The horse lay motionless (his neck was broken, poor brute!) and by the lightning flashes I saw the black bulk of the overturned dog cart and the silhouette of the wheel still spinning slowly.

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The rows of tall Lombardy poplars down its lane stood out in stately, purple silhouette against the sky.

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I turned; at my elbow stood a tall man, young, though probably five or six years older than I--in other respects of an appearance the opposite to common place; though just now, as I am not disposed to paint his portrait in detail, the reader must be content with the silhouette I have just thrown off; it was all I myself saw of him for the moment: I did not investigate the colour of his eyebrows, nor of his eyes either; I saw his stature, and the outline of his shape; I saw, too, his fastidious-looking RETROUSSE nose; these observations, few in number, and general in character (the last excepted), sufficed, for they enabled me to recognize him.

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In silhouette against the sky, the profile of the horse was cut with the sharpness of a cameo; it looked across the heights of air to the confronting cliffs beyond.

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Against the last stripe of the green-gold sunset he saw a black human silhouette; a man in a chimney-pot hat, with a big spade over his shoulder.

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The top of one pinnacle took the shapely, clean-cut form of a rabbit's head, in the inkiest silhouette, while it rested against the moon.

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The tree-tops rose against the luminous blue sky in inky silhouette, and all below that outline melted into one formless blackness.

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I remember vividly the flickering light, his queer, broad head in silhouette, the dance of the shadows, how we all followed him, puzzled but incredulous, and how there in the laboratory we beheld a larger edition of the little mechanism which we had seen vanish from before our eyes.

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And opening the window of his cell he pointed out with his finger the immense church of Notre-Dame, which, outlining against the starry sky the black silhouette of its two towers, its stone flanks, its monstrous haunches, seemed an enormous two-headed sphinx, seated in the middle of the city.

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When Izz Huett and Tess arrived at the scene of operations only a rustling denoted that others had preceded them; to which, as the light increased, there were presently added the silhouettes of two men on the summit.

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By this time they had passed beyond Frome's earshot and he could only follow the shadowy pantomime of their silhouettes as they continued to move along the crest of the slope above him.

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