film
Americannoun
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a thin layer or coating.
a film of grease on a plate.
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a thin sheet of any material.
a film of ice.
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a thin skin or membrane.
The whitish film over your eye is a cataract.
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a delicate web of filaments or fine threads.
The fabric embedded in the polyurethane is essentially a film of fiberglass.
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a thin haze, blur, or mist.
A pale film of drizzly twilight soon gave way to a dense fog.
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Photography.
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a composition of plastic or similar material made into thin sheets or strips and coated with a light-sensitive emulsion, used for taking photographs.
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a strip or roll of this.
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the coating of emulsion on such a sheet or strip or on a photographic plate.
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Movies.
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a strip of transparent material, usually cellulose triacetate, covered with a photographic emulsion and perforated along one or both edges, intended for the recording and reproduction of images.
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a similar perforated strip covered with an iron oxide emulsion magfilm, intended for the recording and reproduction of both images and sound.
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a movie; motion picture.
We decided to stay home and watch a Kurosawa film.
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Sometimes films
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movies collectively.
Film is the quintessential storytelling medium of the 20th century.
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the movie industry, or its productions, operations, etc..
He wants to get into films as a director.
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movies as a genre of art or entertainment.
experimental film.
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verb (used with object)
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to cover with a film, thin skin, or pellicle.
A bloom of algae films the pond every summer.
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Movies.
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to record in video format as a movie, with or without audio.
We didn't know we were being filmed.
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to make a movie of.
to film a novel.
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verb (used without object)
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to become covered by a film.
The water filmed over with ice.
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Movies.
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to be reproduced in video format as a movie, especially in a specified manner.
This story films easily.
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to direct, make, or otherwise engage in the production of movies, TV shows, or other video content.
They'll be filming here for the next six months.
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noun
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a sequence of images of moving objects photographed by a camera and providing the optical illusion of continuous movement when projected onto a screen
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a form of entertainment, information, etc, composed of such a sequence of images and shown in a cinema, etc
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( as modifier )
film techniques
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a thin flexible strip of cellulose coated with a photographic emulsion, used to make negatives and transparencies
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a thin coating or layer
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a thin sheet of any material, as of plastic for packaging
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a fine haze, mist, or blur
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a gauzy web of filaments or fine threads
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pathol an abnormally opaque tissue, such as the cornea in some eye diseases
verb
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to photograph with a cine camera
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to make a film of (a screenplay, event, etc)
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(often foll by over) to cover or become covered or coated with a film
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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filmsimple
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filmssimple
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have filmedperfect
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has filmedperfect
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am filmingprogressive
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are filmingprogressive
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is filmingprogressive
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have been filmingperfect progressive
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has been filmingperfect progressive
Past
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filmedsimple
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had filmedperfect
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was filmingprogressive
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were filmingprogressive
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had been filmingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of film
First recorded before 1000, in 1890–95 film for def. 6, and in 1900–05 film for def. 7; Middle English filme, Old English filmen membrane; akin to fell 4
Explanation
A film, also known as a "movie" or a "motion picture," is a series of moving images shown on a screen, usually with sound, that make up a story. Some people like to see new films at the theater as soon as they're released. You might pretend to be a fan of French films while secretly preferring animated films. The movie itself is a film, and you can also use the word to mean the photographic strip of plastic that runs through a camera and captures the film's images. It's also a verb, meaning to use such a camera: "Let's film a scene where you play with my cat!" The Old English root word is filmen, "membrane or thin skin."
Vocabulary lists containing film
TEKS ELAR Academic Vocabulary List (5th-7th grades)
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Academy Awards, List 4
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"The Tell-Tale Heart" and "The Raven"
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
The Telegraph declared The Odyssey the "film of the year", while Metro added that the movie would "change cinema forever".
From BBC ● Jul. 28, 2026
A rare alternate poster for the 1999 film “Cradle Will Rock,” which I wrote and directed.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 28, 2026
Minghella’s film is an utterly beautiful and romantic story, a daunting feat considering how equally beautiful, though different, its source material is.
From Salon ● Jul. 28, 2026
In Greece, there has been criticism over the lack of Greek actors in the film, beyond extras.
From Barron's ● Jul. 28, 2026
Molly unspooled another film reel, leaving a trail up the aisle.
From "Night Owls" by A.R. Vishny
Jonsson, a Bafta Rising Star winner who's appeared in Industry, The Long Walk and Rye Lane, will play the son of T'Challa, king of Wakanda, the fictional African nation where the films are set.
From BBC ● Jul. 27, 2026
This is one reason the Backrooms feel different from traditional horror films or ghost stories.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 26, 2026
In the galleries, more than 200 pieces of production art and films will be presented in conjunction with a theatrical retrospective of animated shorts and features.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 26, 2026
Kore-eda’s films frequently focus on individuals who aren’t as happy as they thought they’d be.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 24, 2026
“No offense, Dadi, but I think I know everything about what a career in films entails. I don’t need to watch some documentary made for laypeople. Okay?”
From "From Twinkle, with Love" by Sandhya Menon
Mitsotakis, however, congratulated Nolan on the film's "great box office success" and expressed appreciation that a significant part of the production was filmed in Greece.
From Barron's ● Jul. 28, 2026
Amundson stopped, got out of her car, and filmed them.
From Slate ● Jul. 27, 2026
Rheon said make-up artists used heavy moisturiser to portray characters sweating - with the actual weather conditions "changeable" at best - as they filmed the BBC portrayal of Liz Jensen's bestselling novel.
From BBC ● Jul. 26, 2026
His new project, “Kingdom,” is a six-part series filmed in a single Zambian national park over the course of five years.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 26, 2026
If National Geographic portrayed them as such, it was because National Geographic filmed during the day.
From "Life of Pi" by Yann Martel
A recent challenge from the cleaning brand Scrub Daddy tasked users with filming themselves shopping at Home Depot for its BBQ Daddy scrubbing product.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 27, 2026
The promoter behind some of the biggest comic and entertainment conventions in the UK has banned Meta glasses from its events to stop "secret filming" of guests and attendees.
From BBC ● Jul. 24, 2026
Set against the backdrop of our modern culture, where we’re filming everything but listening to no one, McElwee finds himself trapped in irony’s clutches.
From Salon ● Jul. 24, 2026
Still, the streaming giant seems to be focusing mainly on the edges of production -- from visualizing a concept early on to color-grading footage after filming wraps.
From Barron's ● Jul. 22, 2026
“They’re filming something now down at the Plaza. It seems to be a comedy.”
From "The Red Car to Hollywood" by Jennie Liu
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
