appear
/əˈpɪə
/verb [no object]
1Come into sight; become visible or noticeable, especially without apparent cause: smoke appeared on the horizon...
- The supervisors or any other voter would never notice this fraud since no visible sign would appear.
- From time to time as a gap in the trees appears I catch sight of this glistening stretch of cobalt blue water below.
- Around one corner, a hundred goats suddenly appeared, in no apparent hurry to let us by.
Synonyms
become visible, come into view, come into sight, materialize, take shape
informal pop up, bob up
be revealed, be seen, emerge, manifest itself, become apparent, become evident, surface, come to light, arise, crop up, occur, develop, enter into the picture
1.1Come into existence or use: the major life forms appeared on earth...
- It simply came into existence, appearing as precipitously as a flash of lightning.
- It should be remembered, however, that the legal conditions now in existence did not appear out of the blue.
- In another line, a major shape gene appeared that also caused female sterility.
1.2Be published or offered for sale: the paperback edition didn’t appear for another two years...
- Thus, some viewers were directed to stories that did not appear in their edition of the newspaper.
- He continued to aim at international recognition with his second paper, written again in French, appearing in 1844 published by a colleague in his journal.
- Volumes of harp airs also began to appear, published in London.
Synonyms
become available, come on the market, go on sale, come out, be published, be produced;
come into existence
1.3Feature or be shown: the symbol appears in many paintings of the period...
- This is the case with variables 2 and 4, whose scatter diagram appears in Figure 11.9.
- Likewise, the cross that appears in a figure's hand is out of his own hand.
- In fact, this particular phrase appears in other parts of both documents.
1.4 informal Arrive at a place: by ten o’clock Bill still hadn’t appeared...
- They wait over 21 years for one to arrive and two appear in the same season.
- A few minutes after Steph and Lewis arrived, Josh appeared at the downstairs door.
- He appears on the scene of action ready for battle on the appointed day, and there he meets others like himself, brought up by the same summons.
Synonyms
arrive, turn up, put in an appearance, make an appearance, come, get here/there, present oneself
informal show up, show, show one's face, pitch up, fetch up, roll in, blow in
2Present oneself formally in a court or tribunal: he appeared on six charges of theft...
- I appeared in Worthing Magistrates court when Jack was given unconditional bail and told these facts to the court and the magistrate.
- He'd never appeared in the Supreme Court and he came into this case very, very late.
- Although the matter has been called today, she has not appeared in the Court.
3Perform publicly in a film, play, etc. he appeared on Broadway...
- She added that she would be consulting a solicitor about possible legal action if it were found that she had appeared on film.
- Other members of the public appear throughout the film, in walkthrough roles in pubs, buses and streets.
- They appeared on a microbudget Granada show, filmed in their own homes.
Synonyms
perform, play, act;
take the role of, take the part of
4Seem; give the impression of being: [with infinitive]: she appeared not to know what was happening [with clause]: it appears unlikely that interest rates will fall...
- My own impression is that it appears as from another planet and does nothing to put the heart or soul back in the centre of Bradford.
- It appears unlikely at this stage and it is difficult to imagine him wanting to inhabit the rather obsessive world that managers must live in.
- It appears unlikely that the referees will have enough support to force the meeting which will mean a continuation of the dispute.
Synonyms
seem, look, give the impression of being, have the appearance/air of being, come across as being, look as though one is, look to be, strike someone as
Origin
Middle English: from Old French apareir, from Latin apparere, from ad- 'towards' + parere 'come into view'.