释义 |
sil·hou·ette I. \|silə|wet, usu -ed.+V\ noun (-s) Etymology: French, after Étienne de Silhouette died 1767 French controller general of finances; from his parsimony and petty economies 1. a. : a representation of the outlines of an object filled in with black or some other uniform color < silhouettes cut from paper > < a book illustrated with silhouettes > b. : a style of representation in which outlines are filled in with black or some other uniform color : outline 2a < illustrations done in silhouette > 2. : the outline or a delineation of the outline of a person or thing especially when used as a means of characterizing or identifying < learn to identify ships or planes by their varying silhouettes > < the silhouette of a new-model automobile > < the robin's handsome silhouette — Morris Gilbert > < for a moment they were in silhouette against a morning sky — Ross Santee > specifically : the outline or contour of a fashionable costume or part of such a costume varying from year to year and period to period < this year's full-skirted silhouette > < an hourglass silhouette in women's clothes > 3. : a photograph of essentially only two tones showing the subject against a light background 4. : a halftone with background dots etched or cut away 5. : a target shaped to approximate the silhouette of a man 6. : the visible outline of the body in a moment of action in the dance Synonyms: see outline II. verb (silhouetted ; silhouetted ; silhouetting ; silhouettes) transitive verb 1. : to represent by a silhouette : project upon a background like a silhouette < the line of the dune silhouetted against the sky — W.T.Scott > < deep off-white color which does not silhouette the pictures like the more glaring whites — J.T.Soby > < attack with the moon silhouetting the targets — E.L.Beach > < a flock of roosting vultures, silhouetted on the sky — G.W.Cable > 2. : to etch or cut away background dots of (a halftone) intransitive verb : to appear in profile like a silhouette |